"This Website Uses Cookies": Users' Perceptions and Reactions to the Cookie Disclaimer

Abstract

For many years, cookies have been widely used by websites, storing information about users' behaviour. While enabling additional functionality and potentially improving user experience, cookies, especially cookies used by third parties for data analysis, can be a threat to users' privacy. The EU data protection directive, among other prescriptions, require that the website providers inform the users about cookie use on their websites by displaying a so-called cookie disclaimer.