The European Union is constructing plans to remove what it calls an “overload” of “annoying” cookie banners. The plan is to allow users to set up general preferences for their internet use, as opposed to giving consent on every website they visit. This would mean that websites would read the users' preferences in their browsers, instead of the browsers downloading cookies for each site. The European Commission's vice-president, Andrus Ansip, said that these proposed rules would enable people to “be more in control of their settings”. However, the idea has attracted some criticism from some technological quarters, with the Computer and Communications Industry Association questioning whether it was “better or worse” than the annoyance of cookies currently. It was also noted that these changes may harm large online companies, such as Facebook, who rely on the information for advertising.
