ICO takes action to tackle cookie compliance across the UK’s top 1,000 websites

• ICO reviewing cookie usage on biggest UK sites
• 2025 strategy launched to ensure online tracking gives people “clear choices and confidence in how their information is used,”
• New guidance on ‘consent or pay’ models published

We have today announced plans to bring the UK’s top 1,000 websites into compliance with data protection law.

We have already assessed the compliance of the top 200 UK websites and communicated concerns to 134 of those organisations, setting out clear regulatory expectations that organisations must comply with the law by giving people meaningful choice on how their personal information is used online.

This action forms part of our online tracking strategy for 2025, which seeks to ensure that people have meaningful control over how their personal information is tracked and used online. The strategy plans to address the significant harm that can occur when online tracking practices are misused.

The strategy’s release is complemented by new measures to support businesses to adopt more privacy-friendly business models that give users the lawful choice and control they expect, including:

Draft guidance on tracking people online

Following a consultation last year on ‘consent or pay’ models - where organisations give people a choice between agreeing to personalised adverts to access a service or paying to access a service and avoid personalised adverts - we have now published guidance for organisations implementing or considering implementing ‘consent or pay’ models.

The guidance clarifies how organisations can deploy ‘consent or pay’ models to give users meaningful control while supporting their economic viability and includes a set of factors for organisations to assess their models against to demonstrate people can freely give their consent. 

The strategy also includes plans to further engage with consent management platforms (CMPs), which are often central to how organisations manage online consent.

Public-facing guidance is coming this year to help people navigate online tracking, their lawful rights to meaningful choice over their personal information and what to do if they have concerns about a website's model.  

Speaking in a blog today, Stephen Almond added:

“Tracking should work for everyone – giving people clear choices and confidence in how their information is used, while enabling businesses to operate fairly and responsibly. Our strategy ensures both.”

Further details on the our online tracking strategy can be read in Stephen Almond’s blog here.