After Google lobbying, EU Council removes Article 88b from the Digital Omnibus; 19 organizations jointly call for it to be retained

The EU Council’s position paper, published on June 18, removed Article 88b of the Digital Omnibus, which would have required websites to recognize and comply with privacy preference signals sent by browsers. Nineteen organizations, coordinated by noyb, BEUC, and EDRi, jointly wrote to the European Parliament, Council, and Commission, urging them to restore the provision in trilogue negotiations. Google had submitted comments arguing that the article should be deleted and commissioned a report claiming it would cause online advertising to collapse.