The plague of cookie consent alerts, banners, and pop-ups that have added a sliver of sandpaper to web surfing since 2009 might be eradicated in December. Specifically, new guidelines from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) aim to eliminate manipulative consent banners and reduce consent fatigue. On September 15, a note was sent to tech industry players about how the EC is considering changing cookie consent rules to allow for more exceptions. On September 22, there was a meeting between the EC and tech industry representatives to discuss cookies and consent banners. The EC is keen to stress that any simplification of cookie consent doesn’t represent a lighter approach to data protection.