CookieLaw Blog July 23, 2012

Automated Cookie Law Enforcement in the Netherlands

As many people are aware, the implementation of the EU directive into local laws in each EU member state has resulted in some fundamental differences from country to country.

The Dutch cookie law is widely regarded as one of the strictest interpretations of the directive, and requires very much an ‘opt-in’ based approach.

The Dutch regulator, OPTA has recently released an FAQ on the law, which has been translated by leading London law firm Bird and Bird: Click here to view.

This gives some very clear guidance to website owners, which can be summed up as:

  • Consent must be obtained before the setting of cookies
  • Browser settings are not sufficient to communicate consent
  • The law applies to all websites – including non-Dutch sites.
  • Website owners are responsible for getting consent third party cookies placed via their site (e.g. third party advertising).
  • A website can choose to deny access to a visitor if they do not give their consent.

It also appears that OPTA is planning to be very proactive in enforcing the law. It has employed  ‘digital detectives’ and has plans to develop an automated monitoring tool to look out for non-compliant websites.  It has also suggested it will impose ‘periodic’ penalties for continued non-compliance.

This all looks like a much more pro-active approach than has been seen from the ICO in the UK. 

So if your site is being viewed by people in the Netherlands, then if you are not compliant you risk a fine from the Dutch authorities.

Luckily Optanon provides full support for both multi-lingual and multi-jurisdictional consent implementations – so you will be safe in our hands.

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