Regulators are tightening expectations around cookie consent, exposing how tracking persists through supercookies and loopholes. With third-party cookies lingering, enforcement focuses on real user choice, not banners. New UK rules ease low-risk uses while AI reshapes consent operations. The future demands adaptive, accountable, risk-based data practices across global digital ecosystems.
In 2025, the digital ecosystem is grappling with a profound shift in how tracking cookies are used and regulated. Consent banners, once mere compliance checkboxes, are now under intense scrutiny as regulators demand privacy in practice, not just on paper. Meanwhile, evolving storage and access technologies – from partitioned cookies to AI-driven consent tools – are redefining both strategy and user experience. Let’s explore how these forces converge.
HTTP cookies—session and persistent—continue to underpin web tracking and user session management. Session cookies expire when the browser closes, while persistent cookies can track users across sessions and sites. First-party cookies serve functional purposes like login retention, whereas third-party cookies, set by external domains, can pose significant tracking and privacy risks.
Despite plans to phase out third-party cookies, Google postponed the deprecation of third-party cookies in 2024, and as of mid-2025, they remain enabled in Chrome by default—albeit with stricter attributes that offer privacy-protective mechanisms for targeted advertising, though they still raise antitrust and privacy concerns.
Beyond traditional cookies, trackers deploy evasive tools like “supercookies” that respawn across multiple storage vectors (IndexedDB, Flash, Canvas, local storage) to persist despite deletion.
A June 2025 study revealed that nearly 50% of sites use “intractable cookies,” which continue to track users even after consent is declined, with consent management platform (CMP) banners correlating with higher prevalence of such tracking. These findings illustrate how technological workaround challenges the essence of informed consent.
Regulators are shifting the goalposts: it’s no longer enough to show a banner — you must truly respect users' choices.
With no new ePrivacy Regulation looming, enforcement of existing rules has intensified. EU regulators now target the substance of consent, emphasizing that consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Even smaller operators face real risk of fines.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is reviewing the top 1,000 most-visited UK websites for cookie compliance. Early reviews found 134 of 200 sites in violation—reinforcing that “consent or pay” models are unacceptable, and banners must genuinely reflect user agency.
In June 2025, the UK enacted the DUAA, which redefined how storage and access technologies like cookies are governed. Under the updated Regulation 6 of PECR, some low-risk cookies, such as those used for analytics, service improvement, or security, can be set without explicit consent, provided transparency and opt-out mechanisms exist.
The DUAA expands legitimate interest exemptions, simplifying compliance for essential purposes like fraud detection or performance enhancement.
The ICO’s proposal to relax consent requirements for low-risk cookies signals a move away from blanket rules. By reducing “consent fatigue,” the proposal aims to strike a better balance between user control and practical data use—though the scope is under consultation until the end of August 2025.
Artificial intelligence is making inroads into consent management. AI-driven consent management platforms (CMPs) offer automated scanning, cookie categorization, geo-targeted consent banners, and realtime compliance updates. These intelligent tools promise maintenance at scale but raise their own ethical considerations, especially around transparency and algorithmic bias.
The path ahead likely involves dynamic compliance, with AI systems adapting banners and policy guidance based on realtime regulatory changes and user behavior. Integration with technologies like blockchain for immutably recording consent may offer additional transparency and auditability.
As we move forward, cookie consent will transform from a compliance chore into a nuanced interface balancing privacy, usability, and innovation. Regulators expect action—not just words.
The DUAA in the UK exemplifies this shift: blending pragmatic exemptions with transparency requirements.
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