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

Court Ruling
Datenschutzbehörde23 April 2026Austria
final
ePrivacy
Court Ruling

Austria's Datenschutzbehörde ruled that Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) made it harder for users to refuse cookies than to accept them. This decision matters because it highlights the importance of clear consent options for website visitors. Companies must ensure that rejecting cookies is as easy as accepting them.

What happened

Österreichischer Rundfunk's cookie banner did not provide an equally easy option to reject cookies compared to accepting them.

Who was affected

Website visitors who encountered ORF's cookie banner and wanted to refuse tracking were affected.

What the authority found

The authority found that ORF violated consent requirements by making it more difficult to reject cookies than to accept them.

Why this matters

This ruling emphasizes that companies must prioritize user consent and transparency in their cookie practices. Website operators should review their cookie banners to ensure compliance.

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, violating consent requirements.

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

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: