Case C-673/17 Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände - Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V. v Planet49 GmbH, Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 1 October 2019
Consent of a website user, required for the lawful storage of information or access to information already stored, in the form of cookies, in his or her terminal equipment is not validly constituted by way of a pre-ticked checkbox, which the user must deselect to refuse consent. Conditions for the lawful storage and access are not to be interpreted differently according to whether or not the information stored or accessed on a website user’s terminal equipment qualifies as personal data. Information that the service provider must provide to a website user, prior to the storage of information in his or her terminal equipment, includes information on the duration of the operation of cookies and whether or not third parties may have access to it.
Articles 2(f) and 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC – Articles 2(h) and 10 of Directive 95/46/EC – Articles 4(11) and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679