Are you Cookie Compliant?

You might have read a lot about Cookies and the Cookie Law in recent weeks. And with less than three weeks before it comes into force, you should be asking yourself what is it, how is going to affect your website and what do you need to do to be compliant?

What is the EU Cookie Law?
The EU Cookie Directive 2012 is an amended piece of privacy legislation that came into force last year. It requires website owners to make significant changes to their sites, forcing them to obtain informed consent from visitors prior to storing any information on any device connected to the web via the use of Cookies.

By 26th May 2012, all UK websites must offer users the opportunity to opt-in to the use of Cookies and their passing information to third parties, so as to stay on the right side of this ‘Cookie Legislation’.

The impact of the Cookie Law could fundamentally change the whole web browsing and shopping experience for all users.

What is a Cookie?
Cookies are used by many websites and are deployed for a variety of purposes. This includes page personalisation, retention of visitor preferences, shopping cart management within e-commerce sites and tracking users. In addition, they can also facilitate the analysis of visitor behaviour.

Complying with the Cookie Law
To ensure a website is fully compliant with the EU Directive, The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) advises all organisations to take the following three actions:

1. Carry out a Cookie Audit to check what type of cookies and similar technologies are in use and how they are deployed.

2. Assess how intrusive the use of cookies is.

3. Where consent is required, decide what solution to obtain consent is best for the website in question.

The Cookie Collective
As a founding partner of The Cookie Collective, an organisation set up specifically to provide information and solutions to website owners, we can help you ensure your website is on the right side of the Cookie Law.

To find out more and to ensure you are Cookie Compliant, visit www.cookielaw.org or Tweet us at @TheCookieCrunch and our pals over at Governor

Don’t wait. Act now. The law comes into force on 26th May 2012.