READABILITY OF COOKIE POLICIES OF E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS OPERATING IN TÜRKİYE

This study aims to empirically analyze the readability levels of cookie policies on popular e-commerce platforms operating in Türkiye with Turkish language content. Accordingly, to represent the population, 9 e-commerce platforms highlighted in various sector reports between 2022 and 2026 were included in the research sample, and their cookie policy texts were examined. The texts were analyzed using the Ateşman (1997) and Bezirci-Yılmaz (2010) readability formulas, which were specifically developed to align with the linguistic structure of Turkish texts. The empirical findings demonstrate that the examined cookie policies have an average readability score of 23.44 (very difficult) on Ateşman readability formula, and an average readability score of 27.97 (academic level) on the Bezirci-Yılmaz readability formula. These results indicate that all texts within the sample far exceed the cognitive capacity of an average internet user and require a high level of academic proficiency to be comprehended. Consequently, this situation reveals that the right to "informed consent," one of the most fundamental ethical principles of the digital age, is effectively rendered dysfunctional. The study offers practical recommendations for e-commerce platforms and legal regulators to improve digital transparency and consent mechanisms.