Aller Media AB – Complaint Upheld (Sweden, 2025)
Aller Media AB's cookie banner misled users about their consent choices for tracking cookies. The Swedish privacy authority upheld a complaint against the company for not providing clear options. This case shows that businesses need to be honest and clear when asking for user consent online.
What happened
Aller Media AB's cookie banner relied on legitimate interest after users refused consent, misleading them about their choices.
Who was affected
Website visitors who encountered Aller Media AB's misleading cookie banner.
What the authority found
The Swedish privacy authority found that Aller Media AB violated GDPR by not providing clear consent options for cookies.
Why this matters
This case highlights the need for companies to design cookie banners that clearly inform users about their choices. It sets a precedent for stricter requirements on consent mechanisms.
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Aller Media's cookie banner was designed to make rejecting cookies more difficult than accepting them and used misleading messaging by relying on legitimate interest as a fallback for non-essential cookies.
Outcome
Complaint Upheld
A data subject complaint that was upheld by the DPA.
Violations (5)
Cookie banner does not provide a clear reject/refuse all button at the same level as the accept button.
Art. 7 GDPR
Refusing cookies requires more clicks or steps than accepting them, or the reject option is less visually prominent.
Art. 7 GDPR
Third-party tracking cookies or scripts are loaded without obtaining prior user consent.
Art. 13, 14 GDPR
The cookie banner uses misleading language to trick or pressure users into accepting cookies (dark patterns).
Art. 7 GDPR
Users cannot select or deselect individual cookie categories; consent is presented as all-or-nothing.
Art. 4(11) GDPR
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Aller Media AB in SE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Similar Cases
Enforcement actions with similar violations
Details
Decision Date
28 April 2025
Authority
Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Aller Media AB - Sweden (2025). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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