The Cookie Law is a piece of privacy
legislation that requires websites to
obtain consent from visitors to store or
retrieve any information on a computer or any other web connected
device, like a smartphone or tablet.
It has been designed to protect online privacy, by making
consumers aware of how information about them is collected by
websites, and enable them to choose whether or not they want to
allow it to take place.
It started as an EU Directive that was adopted by all EU
countries in May 2011. In the UK it was brought into law by an
update of the Privacy and Electronic Communications
Regulations. Although each EU country has its own
approach and interpretation, the basic requirements are very
similar across all EU members.
If you are based in the EU and own a website, or your site is
outside the EU but targeted towards EU citizens,
you are now expected to comply with the
law.
Almost all websites use a data storage mechanism known as a
cookie. Cookies store bits of information in peoples' web
browsers when they visit a site, and then send the data back to it
again.
There are other technologies, like Flash and HTML5 Local Storage
that do similar things, and these are also covered by the
legislation, but as cookies are the most common technology in use,
it has become known as the Cookie Law.
However it is important to note that when we talk generally
about cookies in context of the law, we are also talking about all
of the similar technologies that perform the same function.
Cookies are used in many
different ways on the web, the vast majority of them beneficial to
visitors. They act a bit like a form of memory for web pages,
and help to personalise a users web experience.
This includes tracking people across the sites they visit, and
using this information to display more targeted advertising. Some
people are not comfortable about this happening without their
permission.
Almost all websites use cookies and similar technologies.
Especially company websites, e-commerce sites, and any sites that
carry advertising.
If your business has a website, you will almost certainly need
to make changes to it to comply with the law.
If you don't you risk losing the trust of your
customers, especially if more and more of your competitors
are changing their sites to comply.
You also face the possibility of enforcement action from The Information Commissioners' Office
(ICO), the UK regulator responsible for the cookies
law.
The ICO has powers which can include a fine of up
to half a million pounds. Although they won't
issue fines except in serious cases, they can still force you to
change your website to comply with the law.
All the guidance or advice you can find comes down to
three basic steps:
- Work out what your site uses cookies for, with a Cookie
Audit.
- Update your privacy policy to inform your visitors how you use
cookies.
- Get visitor consent, such as by providing an opt-out or opt-in
control.
The Cookie Collective can provide you with all the
tools you need to become compliant.

Cookies are used by almost
all websites as a kind of memory. They are stored in your
browser and enable a site to 'remember' little bits of information
between pages or visits.
They are mostly used to make the web experience better, like
automatically logging you in to a site on return visits, or
remembering settings like text size. Most websites also use
some kind of visitor tracking, like Google Analytics, to measure
site performance, and this will also use cookies in most cases.
However some cookies are used to collect data across websites
and display content and advertising based on user profiles created
with this data. This 'behavioural
advertising' use of cookies is something
the EU particularly wants to raise awareness of with the new
law.
By requiring websites to inform and obtain explicit consent for
cookies it aims to give web users more control over their online
privacy. At the same time this also helps to improve consumer
trust, which research shows increases the use of online services,
and improved the digital economy.
To find out lots more about cookies in general and the different
types, take a look at Cookiepedia - a new
information resource we have built all about cookies.