Court case W 108 2284491-1 – Court Ruling (Austria, 2024)

Court Ruling
Datenschutzbehörde31 July 2024Austria
final
ePrivacy
Court Ruling

A court ruled that a website's cookie banner made it too hard for users to reject cookies. This is significant because it reinforces the need for clear and easy consent mechanisms for online tracking. Website operators must ensure that rejecting cookies is as simple as accepting them.

What happened

The court found that the website's cookie consent mechanism was designed to make rejecting cookies more difficult than accepting them.

Who was affected

Website visitors who interacted with the cookie banner were affected.

What the authority found

The court held that the website violated GDPR rules by complicating the process of rejecting cookie consent.

Why this matters

This ruling sets a precedent for cookie consent practices, emphasizing that users must have an equal opportunity to reject tracking. Website operators should review their cookie consent designs to comply with these standards.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 21(GDPR)
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive GDPR
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 7(3) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 7(3) GDPR
Art. 21(GDPR)
Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

Decision AuthorityBVwG
Reviewed AuthorityDSB (Austria)
Source verified 12 April 2026
articles corrected
authority corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

The website's cookie banner made rejecting cookies harder than accepting, used pre-ticked boxes, and initially lacked a mechanism to withdraw consent.

Outcome

Court Ruling

A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.

Violations (4)

No Reject Button
critical

Cookie banner does not provide a clear reject/refuse all button at the same level as the accept button.

Art. 7 GDPR

Reject Harder Than Accept
critical

Refusing cookies requires more clicks or steps than accepting them, or the reject option is less visually prominent.

Art. 7 GDPR

Pre-ticked Consent Boxes
high

Cookie consent checkboxes are pre-selected by default, violating the requirement for active, affirmative consent.

Art. 4(11) GDPR

Cannot Withdraw Cookie Consent
critical

No accessible mechanism exists for users to withdraw previously given cookie consent.

Art. 7(3) GDPR

Related Cases (0)

No other cases found for Court case W 108 2284491-1 in AT

This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Ruling Date

31 July 2024

Authority

Datenschutzbehörde

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified
Cookie relevance: 100%

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Court case W 108 2284491-1 - Austria (2024). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: