A study conducted by the CNIL shows a decrease in the number of cookies in the digital space. A number that is still significant.
The Cnil, guarantor of the privacy of the French, has reduced “the intensity of advertising tracking” on the internet, with in particular a reduction in the number of cookies, she said on Monday in a press release.
The institution’s innovation laboratory (Linc) has monitored the practices of the 1,000 sites with the highest audience in France for more than a year. According to this study, “the share of sites depositing more than 6 third-party cookies fell from 24% to 12% between January 2021 and August 2022.” The proportion of sites not depositing any third-party cookies has increased from 20% to 29%. Finally, the average number of third-party cookies placed has fallen from more than 4 to 2.5.
Tracing always important
Cookies are digital tracers placed by websites on the user’s terminal. They are used to persistently identify the user, to save his basket of items or his preferences. When they are deposited by a partner of the site, often for purposes of audience measurement or advertising targeting, we speak of third-party cookies. Their use is subject to the consent of the user who must specifically accept their deposit.
If the study shows “initial positive results”, “tracing of browsing data by targeted advertising actors, without the consent of individuals, remains potentially important”, recognizes the Cnil, which had published guidelines on the subject. in 2020.
“As a result, the Cnil will maintain its compliance efforts on sites with a large audience in France”, specifies the commission.
Formal notices and heavy fines
The Commission has since sent 94 formal notices and imposed 8 sanctions. The Gafa most fond of cookies have also received large fines: 250 million euros for Google, 60 million euros for Facebook, 35 million euros for Amazon.
On the user side, a series of surveys conducted by Ifop shows that 95% of people questioned in 2022 say they know what cookies are, compared to 44% in November 2020. However, 68% of them consider that the information about companies in the advertising ecosystem is insufficient or non-existent.
The cookie refusal rate is also on the rise, with 39% in June 2022. About as many Internet users say they set them more finely, and some 20% say they give their consent each time.
