Österreichischer Rundfunk - ORF – Court Ruling (Austria, 2026)

Court Ruling
Datenschutzbehörde23 April 2026Austria
final
ePrivacy
Court Ruling

Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) faced a ruling for its cookie banner that made it hard for visitors to reject consent. The court found that the banner did not provide an equally easy way to refuse consent compared to accepting it. This matters because it highlights the importance of clear consent options for website visitors.

What happened

ORF's cookie banner made refusing consent more difficult than accepting it.

Who was affected

Website visitors who encountered ORF's cookie banner while browsing its site.

What the authority found

The court ruled that ORF lacked a valid legal basis for processing personal data due to its misleading cookie banner, violating GDPR requirements for consent.

Why this matters

This ruling emphasizes that companies must ensure consent mechanisms are clear and fair. Website operators should review their cookie banners to avoid similar issues.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 7(1) GDPR
Art. 4(11) GDPR
Art. 58(2)(d) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 4(11) GDPR
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 7(1) GDPR
Art. 58(2)(d) GDPR

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

Decision AuthorityBVwG
Reviewed AuthorityDSB (Austria)
Source verified 13 May 2026
articles corrected
date discrepancy
authority corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

The cookie banner did not offer an equally prominent rejection option and made refusing consent more difficult than accepting it.

Outcome

Court Ruling

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

Violations (2)

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

Details

Ruling Date

23 April 2026

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. Österreichischer Rundfunk - ORF - Austria (2026). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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