Germany: Hamburg Data Protection Authority notifies Google of illegal cookie banners

On 5 April 2022, the data protection authority of Hamburg informed Google that the current cookie notification banners on Google sites and Youtube do not comply with data protection requirements. The main issue identified by the regulator is that the notification asking users to accept or reject cookies contains an “I accept” button which is more accessible than it is for users to reject said cookies. If users wish to reject (non-essential) cookies for Google sites or Youtube, an additional click on the “Adjust” button would be necessary. The regulator stated that this qualifies as misleading and manipulative since it makes users more likely to consent to cookies even if they did not originally want to do so.