• by Ray Schultz , January 25, 2024

UK publishers have a new regulation to contend with – the UK’s Information Commissioner Office (ICO) now requires them to have a “reject all cookies” button that will be at least as prominent as their “accept all cookies” buttons. 

The result is that publishers may require people to accept all cookies or subscribe to read the content, according to Press Gazette. 

In 2021, the ICO conducted what it called Operation Cobar, investigating 50 websites, and discovered that some publishers, including Autotrader, The Daily Mail,LADbible, Netflix, and The Guardian, automatedly opted people in for tracking cookies, Press Gazette reports, based on a Freedom of Information Act request. 

The Guardian responded to the report by saying that it was “always working with its consent management platform to provide greater transparency to its users on how the cookie banner operates,” according to Press Gazette.