EU Cookie Law

A new EU online privacy law will come into effect from 26th May 2012. This will directly affect many websites across the UK, as it requires all website owners to make sure that it is clear to users if cookies will be loaded onto their computer.

Cookies may be used for a variety of reasons, from simple tasks such as remembering login details for the website, through to tracking the journey of consumers throughout the site using tools such as Google Analytics. Online advertising is often heavily reliant on cookies, as this may require using a tracking cookie which is used when retargeting or tracking the path to a sale.

The official guidelines state that appropriate action must be taken to inform consumers according to what cookies you have in place. AdConnection would strongly recommend running a ‘cookie audit’ on your website in order to understand these and exactly how these are used. There are many free tools you can use to do this yourself; in most cases there is no need to pay for an external company to take care of this for you. 

For more information on the classification of cookies and guidelines on what steps to take towards compliance, AdConnection would recommend reading The International Chamber of Commerce Guide to Cookies.

All of the external networks and websites we use at AdConnection are IAB certified and sign up to the Good Practice Framework, from which consumers are able to opt out of advertising.

In reality, this law is going to be extremely difficult for the EU to police. As long as you are taking positive steps towards informing users about cookies used on your site then it is unlikely any sanctions will come in to force. Adconnection would suggest updating your privacy policy at the very least, but if you are advertising it is important for your website to still be cookie adherent so consumer journeys can still be tracked from advert exposure to conversion.

If you are keen to talk to someone about cookie law and how this may affect your website, particularly from an advertising point of view, then feel free to give us a call on 0207 401 4830.