Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has plans to assess the use of third party cookies by online advertisers.

Following the Government’s call for evidence in 2020 we will be launching a public consultation by the end of this year as the next steps of our Online Advertising Programme.

Whilst online advertising presents benefits, it also presents new challenges for consumers, businesses and society as a whole. It raises questions over the collection, analysis and use of consumer data, as well as the appropriateness and accuracy of targeting. The scale and speed of advertising has also highlighted possible challenges around content standards and harmful advertisements.

We are currently working to shape the consultation and what it will consider. Ultimately we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising.