In a decision dated 14 May 2020, Finland’s Data Protection Authority took a view that browser settings do not constitute a valid consent to cookies, and ordered a company to change the way it requests consent for the use of cookies on its website.

The decision is seen as significant, as it contradicts two earlier decisions given by Finland’s Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), that generally monitors and supervises the national transposition of the e-Privacy Directive in Finland. In April 2020, Traficom issued two decisions where it held that consent to cookies may be obtained via browser settings, arguing that Finnish national law supersedes the GDPR’s consent requirements.