eco Association provides tips for responsible handling of privacy policies
- 64.5% rarely or never read privacy policies / 37.5% often accept all cookies without checking their content
- eco Association Chair of the Board Süme: “Data protection concerns us all”
- Federal Data Protection Commissioner Specht-Riemenschneider: “We need genuine digital transformation aligned with European values”
More than half of all Germans (52.4%) find online privacy policies too complicated, according to a recent representative survey by eco – Association of the Internet Industry conducted with 2,500 German citizens aged 18 and over. This took place on the occasion of European Data Protection Day on 28 January.
According to the survey, 64% of respondents say they rarely or never read privacy policies before agreeing to them. Over one-third regularly accept all cookies, and around 28% generally find privacy banners to be annoying. In addition, 21.8% of respondents see no personal added value in data protection.
The consequences of such careless handling of personal data online range from the unexpected disclosure and misuse of personal data to the loss of legal claims and possible costs to which users unknowingly consent.
eco Chair of the Board Süme: “Data protection concerns us all”
“Data protection concerns us all. Data protection is not just a legally guaranteed right. It’s a central responsibility that companies and public authorities, as well as all citizens, must bear,” says Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board at eco. Especially in Europe, where the GDPR sets a high standard, it is essential to create comprehensible and practical solutions that strike a balance between legal certainty and user-friendliness. Data protection is not merely a compliance obligation, but also a responsibility of digital service providers towards users. This requires proportionate, understandable, and uniform standards for companies and administrations while enabling citizens to handle their data independently and responsibly.*
Federal Data Protection Commissioner Specht-Riemenschneider: “We need a genuine digital transformation aligned with European values.”
In this context, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner, Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, calls for data protection to be more firmly anchored in European social values: “If we believe the election programmes, the economic policy goal for the next five years is to establish a strong digital economy. We need a genuine digital transformation that commits to our society’s European values and sustains them in the digital economy of tomorrow. I believe in a future in such a socially integrative digital economy.”
eco gives four tips for online data protection
- Targeted review of the most important points in privacy policies: Particular attention should be paid to crucial aspects such as data sharing, storage duration and purposes of use. Tools such as TOS;DR (Terms of Service; Didn’t Read) can help to quickly grasp the most important content and assess personal risks.
- Selectively accepting cookies: Instead of accepting all cookies, browser settings allow you to activate only the cookies you need and prevent tracking. Extensions like uBlock Origin or Ghostery also block tracking scripts. Regularly deleting browser data makes it harder for websites to track user behavior.
- Regular use of data protection rights: Rights such as requesting information about stored data or its deletion should be actively used to maintain control over personal information.
- Adjust preferences in the browser or on devices: Modern browsers and operating systems offer settings to limit tracking or block cookies by default. These options should be configured sensibly.
About the survey:
Civey conducted an online survey on behalf of eco Service GmbH from 22 to 23 January 2025, polling 2,500 German citizens aged 18 and older. The results are representative considering quotas and weightings, taking into account the statistical error of 3.5 percentage points in the respective overall result.
