Cookie Directive - UK Implementation

[David]

Some (impartial?) information about the new cookie directive and UK law:

http://youtu.be/arWJA0jVPAc

[David]

And more useful information from Sitepoint.

[James]

I am surprised there has not been more from Google on this. Both Analytics and AdSense are under threat.

I think I'd rather ditch Analytics than ask people to opt in. So few will opt in, that the data will be rubbish anyway. I would go back to log file analysis.

But I can't ditch AdSense, it's too important. I found a setting within AdSense that allows me to not show adverts that are based on user preference / browsing history. It sounds like changing that setting might make this whole thing go away, but I imagine earnings will drop, on the basis that the tracked adverts probably pay more than simply context sensitive ones.

I'm not taking any action yet, I see no reason to be an early adopter on this! When the time is right, I'll sort something out.

[David]

I'm in the same situation as James, using both Analytics and AdSense. I haven't done anything about this yet either; I'm waiting to see what the best advice/practice is. The issue affects hundreds of thousands of websites and so far I've come across very few that have done anything at all. In fact, most website owners know nothing about this, particularly in North America. In theory, the legislation applies to any website visited by residents of the EU - good luck getting the Americans to conform to EU legislation!

I'm going to a GetMo event at Google tomorrow, maybe there will be some advice there - I'll let you know.

[James Farrington]

Hi All,

found this on the BBC Web site, very interesting read!!

From Sunday, sites must obtain "informed consent" from visitors before saving cookies on a machine.
The owners of non-compliant websites face fines of up to £500,000, but the ICO has played down the threat of such serious action, telling the BBC it would take a soft approach to enforcement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18194235

[yianni88]

"However, the ICO has said it would not take immediate action over non-compliant sites, and would instead offer guidance."

Hehe! Whats the point of putting the deadline as this Sunday then? Might as well give companies more time to prepare and then enforce it properly!

[yianni88]

But thanks James, useful read!

[James Farrington]

found a site that has a nice snippet of code that could be put on our sites, http://www.openglobal.co.uk/articles...directive.html

[yianni88]

Nice find! I haven't tested the code out yet but it looks promising. Thanks again James.

[Vlad]

The snippet is definitely useful however as stated in openglobal site this solution might give you compliance to the law however it is not a sure thing. It it your neck on the line if you decide to implement it.