On the 26th May 2011 the EU Cookie Law came into force. This directive was the result of an EU investigation into online privacy and is aimed at increasing user awareness of privacy issues but more importantly it requires that websites obtain consent before storing cookies on the computer of visitors.
There was a grace period to allow individual EU countries to amend legislation and bring in the necessary steps to comply with the legislation. This grace period expired on the 26th May 2012.
After this date last year, companies can be fined up to £500,000 for failure to comply with the EU Cookie Law. Despite this the uptake has been quite slow and not just among website owners. According to surveys 75% of UK consumers had never heard of the e-privacy directive. Despite this, website owners are responsible for the cookies their website uses, be it an old or new website, and must comply with the law.
About Cookies
Cookies are how websites store information about visiting users, from tracking their visits, to storing their login information through to storing their shopping basket.
Cookies are primarily used to track visits and the surfing behaviors of visitors to a website in order to deliver better, more relevant content and also targeted advertising.
Anything from Google Analytics and Google AdSense through to a fully fledged shopping cart use cookies.
Who does it affect
Basically this law applies to every website that is based in the UK and/or EU, no matter how old or how long it has been since its last update. If your website uses cookies then you will need to implement some kind of cookie consent request form for visitors.
How will I know if my website uses Cookies?
If you’re unsure as to whether your website uses cookies, you can contact support via your Customer Control Panel. But basically most websites use cookies in one form or another, for example any website that uses Google Analytics or other Google products, a content management system, such as WordPress or any kind of login section or shopping cart all use cookies.
If your website doesn’t use cookies, then you do not need to take any action. If however your website does use cookies then you will need to add a cookie consent form or at the very least notification, to your website. You can do this yourself, or using a third party company. Alternatively, we can add one for you and make your website fully EU Cookie Law compliant.
Our Service
We will add a fully compliant EU Cookie Law consent form to your website, designed to blend in with the look and feel of your website as fully as possible. As well as creating, writing and linking to a Cookie Policy page, to inform visitors of what cookies you use and why, to ensure that they are fully informed.
This can be done for just a one-off fee of £19.99.
If you’d like to add this to your website, simply log into your account and select the Add-On EU Cookie Law.
N.B. If you already use our Maintenance Package Add-On, you do not need the EU Cookie Law Add-On as adding the consent form and Cookie Policy page is covered in your Maintenance Package.