- Many digital services seem free, but users actually “pay” by consenting to cookies and data use.
- This consent enables personalized ads, user profiling, and commercialization of personal data by online companies.
- The key legal issue is whether this data consent counts as payment for a free service or as an additional payment for an already paid service.
- If treated as an exchange-like transaction, another question is whether the user becomes a “business operator” by agreeing to the use of their data.
Source: datenbank.nwb.de
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
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