"Cookie Consent Banners Need Improvement, May Not Be the Answer"

Cookie consent banners appear, in some form, on nearly every website, but concerns remain as to whether users understand what they agree to when they select one of the available options or click the x button to close the banner. In order to comply with regulatory requirements, websites have implemented cookie consent banners, allowing users to choose how their personal information is collected and shared. However, according to researchers at the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), many of these banners miss the mark. They may not be the best method to provide users with privacy options. Hana Habib, special faculty instructor and associate director of the CMU Software and Societal Systems Department's Masters in Privacy Engineering program, explains that the primary problem with cookie consent interfaces has been the proliferation of dark patterns. Individuals were steered towards less privacy-protective options. In a new study titled "A US-UK Usability Evaluation of Consent Management Platform Cookie Consent Interface Design on Desktop and Mobile," CyLab researchers explored how US and UK users interact with and perceive cookie interfaces, how these interactions and perceptions vary on desktop and mobile devices, as well as how banner prominence, location of cookie category definitions, and initial cookie options influence users' attitudes and behaviors. This article continues to discuss findings from CyLab's US-UK usability evaluation of consent management platform cookie consent interface design. 

CyLab reports "Cookie Consent Banners Need Improvement, May Not Be the Answer"