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Cookies as personal data: what you need to know now!
Find out the latest developments in Heidenheim on October 6, 2025, including local news and data protection questions about cookies.
Cookies as personal data: what you need to know now!
When it comes to the current state of data protection, developments in recent years have not been overlooked. Currently, the topic of cookies provides a lot of discussion, especially in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the new telecommunications telemedia data protection law (TTDSG), which came into force on December 1, 2021. Today, on October 6, 2025, we take a look at the crucial points that affect the use of cookies in Germany.
Cookies, these small data stores that are secured on our end devices, play a central role in digital communication. They consist of a simple data couple that is divided into two parts: a name and a value. DRD-DSGVO.de reports that Cookies both first-party cookies that come from the website visited and include third-party cookies that are set by third parties. This data can potentially contain personal information and have repeatedly raised questions about data security in the past.
Cookies and personal data
According to the BGH judgment of 2020, cookies are to be classified as personal data, since they are often connected to the IP address of the user. This attitude means that cookies may only be used with the prior consent of the user, apart from technically necessary cookies that are essential for the operation of a website. The Eprivacy Directive, which is intended to protect the privacy of EU citizens, makes clear guidelines: storage or access to information is only permitted with informed consent. Wikipedia explains that Member States are obliged to create specific data protection regulations in the telecommunications area.
In practice, however, many websites seem to have difficulty complying with the consent rules. Cookieben -based advertisements and banners often lead to the information of the users in question about data storage. Complications also result from the widespread "do not Track" procedure, which enables users to refuse their consent to data processing-here too, website operators must observe clear rules.
The responsibility for the correct handling of cookies and personal data is therefore clearly with the website operators who have to carefully pay attention to the fact that they comply with the applicable regulations. Otherwise, they could be confronted with high fines by the data protection authorities, but this has apparently been reserved so far when it comes to enforcing punishments for unauthorized cookies.
Conclusion and outlook
In summary, it can be said that cookies are an important but also delicate topic in data protection. The legal framework is clear, but the practical implementation remains a challenge. The coming months and years will show whether the German legislator takes further measures to protect data protection in digital space and at the same time offer users a safe online experience. The path to a comprehensive and understandable regulation is still long and we are excited to see how the legislation will develop.