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You may have heard about the new Cookie Law in certain publications, and how you could face fines for having a website that is not compliant.
Note: This post is now quite out of date, with successive changes such as GDPR. Look out for a new post on Cookie Management.
Just over a year ago the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) gave all website owners a one year grace period to update their website policies regarding cookie use. Also, to make their users aware of what cookies are being stored on their computers whilst visiting a website.
Not all of you will have heard about it, as it wasn’t overly well advertised.
In quick summary, a cookie is a text file that is downloaded to your computer when you browse a website.
This information could be anonymous information that is collected to help a website owner understand a visitor’s journey. Think of tools like Google Analytics.
Other cookies could be used to remember the contents of a user’s shopping basket, or social network information whilst logged into Facebook.
For a full breakdown of what cookies are, the various types, and how you can administer them here is some helpful reading from All About Cookies.
Originally the ICO requested:
There was major uproar over the past year. About the potential damage that placing obtrusive banners on the homepage of every website could do. As well as the potential costs associated with it.
For example, a user seeing a large pop up asking for permission might be out-off and forced to go somewhere else. More than likely to a website that doesn’t comply with the cookie law.
Another factor was cost. Every website is different. Depending on the scale of the build, a website could use a wide range of cookies in their system. This means the potential of further development time being required.
In some cases cookies are required to help the site function, and turning them off would render the website unusable.
This left the ICO with a large list of complaints. It wasn’t until a few days prior to the law being enacted, that they decided to make a concession. Allowing ‘implicit permission’ as an acceptable form of compliance. What this means is users don’t have to make an explicit choice. Instead, their continued use of a site is taken to mean that they’re happy for information to be gathered.
A good method of making users aware is to create a short notice that shows on the entrance of the site. A link to a full cookie policy should appear in the notice, for those who want further information on the cookie in use. This policy should explain what cookies are being used on the site, and why, and reference how they can be disabled.
This has been a godsend for business owners, and has potentially saved many of them a lot of money from trying to code features into their site to comply with the new cookie law.
The fine could be as much as £500,000 for not complying. Having said this, the ICO are currently happy to point website owners in the right direction to comply, rather than hitting them straight up with the fine.
Ok, so I know some of you are probably thinking it keeps website designers busy carrying out these tasks for clients.
But trust me, we would rather you spend your money on expanding, or marketing your website to gain more awareness. Not to put a tick in a box!
We’ve been busy working on a possible solution for our clients’ websites and we’re happy to announce that we have a method for complying with the ICO’s current Cookie Law which is affordable.
To find out what we could do for your website then please get in touch with Martin on 020 3355 8747
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