Online Tracking: Questioning the Power of Informed Consent

The paper aims to report the main findings of a paper for the Dutch Regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector OPTA to explore how the new European ''Cookie rules'' in the e-privacy directive impact on behavioral advertising practices via the storing and reading of cookies. The paper identifies the main dilemmas with the implementation of the new European rules. The Dutch case provides a valuable reality check also outside The Netherlands. Even before the amendment of the directive, The Netherlands already had an opt-in system in place. From the Dutch experience important lessons can be learned also for other European countries.