Project description
A closer look at the EU's new cookie rules
Cookies – small text files that websites place on your device as you are browsing – are processed and stored by your web browser. They can provide businesses with insights into their users' online activity. Due to the amount of data cookies can contain, EU policies restrict their use. The regulations governing cookies are split between the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. There is no way to know for sure if these are having the intended positive consequences for user privacy. The EU-funded COOKIES project will eliminate the knowledge gap. It will analyse a massive set of 'cookie data' and collect 'implementation data'. The findings will provide a crucial empirical foundation for cookie restrictions in the EU.
Objective
Cookies (or HTTP cookies) enable companies to collect and exchange extensive information about users. This information is often used to improve the performance of online advertising, which website publishers rely on in order to finance the free content to which their users have become accustomed. Yet, the collection of information leads to a loss of privacy. Accordingly, EU policy makers have put forward initiatives to restrict cookie usage (e.g. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), upcoming EU ePrivacy Regulation).
So far, there exists very little empirical knowledge on the trade-off between user privacy and the economic value that website publishers, advertisers, and even users derive from cookies. As a result, policy makers have no way of telling whether their restrictions on cookies have the intended positive consequences for user privacy, or whether any benefits are outweighed by negative effects on the profits of companieswhich policy makers also seek to nurture.
This proposals vision is to eliminate the gap in knowledge regarding the economic consequences of restrictions on the usage of cookies. I propose four work packages, each outlining the economic consequences of a specific type of restriction. In WP1-3, I will analyze a proprietary and massive (60-65 TB) set of cookie data that includes 472 publishers, 842 advertisers, 2.8 billion cookies and the prices of >110 billion ad impressions, that indicate the value of cookies for companies. In WP4, I collect implementation data to analyze the steps taken by thousands of the worlds most highly-trafficked websites to become GDPR-compliant.
My results will provide a crucial empirical foundation for cookie restrictions in an industry worth more than 10 billion per year in the EU. The required interdisciplinary research will also involve the development of novel methodologies for deriving such information from big data, and theories as to why the observed economic consequences occur.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
60323 Frankfurt Am Main
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.