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With Reference to the Article New website cookie laws – are you prepared? in the Business Link Newsletter this week.
What are Cookies & Why are they used on my Website?
- - noun. A delicious type of biscuit favoured by large noisy muppets
- A small file placed on your computer when you visit a website. This is normally used in order to identify yourself to the website while you are browsing the website. For example, a way for the website to remember you live in Tunbridge Wells when you are looking at the Weather Forecast or which items you have in your shopping basket while you are shopping around.
There are roughly 2 types of cookie: Session based (so they are deleted when you leave the website) and Persistent (they remain on a users PC after leaving the website).
How do I know if I am using Cookies on my Website?
I use Firebug installed on the Firefox Internet Browser.
Cookie View on Firebug
Under this new law, am I allowed to use Cookies on my Website?
The key for this rule and all rules on the Internet is “Am I trying to trick people into using my website / giving me money / information they might not want to give me?”.
To answer this, the question is “Do I need to set the cookie for the users benefit OR mine?”
Or in Legal Speak “The only exception to this requirement is where the cookie is ‘strictly necessary’ for a service requested by a user. The scope of this exception is limited but would apply where a person uses a shopping service and a cookie is necessary to enable the purchases to appear in the shopping basket. There are likely to be different approaches to the challenge of demonstrating consent depending on the type of cookie this is used, the purpose it is used for and how intrusive it is.”
In the vast majority of cases, then the cookie is required and a session cookie = FINE. However if you are worried please consult your web designer.
I hope you find this information useful, please feel free to comment, adding questions or points of view.
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