BGH to rule on cookie liability: Who pays?

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents BGH to rule on cookie liability: Who pays.

Karlsruhe - On October 8, 2026, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) will hear a case that concerns millions of websites in Germany: Must companies be held liable when cookies are stored on a third-party website without the consent of users?

As reported by Handelsblatt, "the Federal Court of Justice is examining whether companies must be held liable for storing cookies on third-party websites without consent". This decision is likely to have implications far beyond the individual case — because on many websites, cookies are not only set by the visited site itself, but also by embedded third-party providers, for example for advertising or reach measurement.

What it's specifically about

At its core, the question is whether the consent requirement applies only to the provider of the cookie — or also to the operator of the website that embeds the third-party provider. Cookies are small text files that are stored on the user's device when visiting a page and can serve various purposes. To date, the extent of website operators' responsibility is disputed.

What's at stake

For website operators, it's about potential cease-and-desist and damages risks when they embed third-party providers whose cookies are set without explicit consent. For consumers, it's about what data is stored and analyzed while surfing without their knowledge.

The EU context

According to Handelsblatt, the topic is "also at the EU level" a point. The Karlsruhe hearing thus falls within a broader European debate over uniform rules for cookies and online tracking — with an open outcome.