The Cookie Law is a piece of privacy legislation that requires websites to get consent from visitors to store or retrieve any information on a computer, smartphone or tablet.
It was designed to protect online privacy, by making consumers aware of how information about them is collected and used online, and give them a choice to allow it or not.
It started as an EU Directive that was adopted by all EU countries in May 2011. The Directive gave individuals rights to refuse the use of cookies that reduce their online privacy. Each country then updated its own laws to comply. In the UK this meant an update to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
The full information is available on the ICO website:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/cookies-and-similar-technologies/
In short:
Most of our websites have only anonymous tracking cookies – Google analytics
This is generally considered exempt as it stores no user data.
But if you would like to add cookie consent to your website, please get in touch.
IF YOU ARE IN ANY DOUBT, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LEGAL ADVISORS AS WE ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE ANY LEGAL ADVICE.
If you own a website, you will need to make sure it complies with the law, and this usually means making some changes.
If you don't comply you risk enforcement action from regulators, which in the UK means The Information Commissioners' Office (ICO). In exceptional cases this can mean a fine.
However, non-compliance could also have other, perhaps more serious consequences than enforcement. There is plenty of evidence that consumers avoid engaging with websites where they believe their privacy is at risk, and there is a general low level of trust about web tracking by the use of cookies.
Compliance with the cookie law comes down to three basic steps:
Cookies are a kind of short term memory for the web. They are stored in your browser and enable a site to 'remember' little bits of information between pages or visits.
They are widely used to make the web experience more personal, which is generally seen as a positive thing. However some cookies collect data across many websites, creating 'behavioural profiles' of people. These profiles can then be used to decide what content or adverts to show you. This use of cookies for targeting in particular is what the law was designed to highlight. By requiring websites to inform and obtain consent from visitors it aims to give web users more control over their online privacy.
