Careful with your Cookies!

A new EU law comes into force this Thursday which affects the way websites track users with cookies. If this might affect you, read this and contact us if you want to know more.

Advice from Information Commissioners Office - Changes to the rules on using cookies and similar technologies for storing information.

Third party cookies

Some websites allow third parties to set cookies on a user’s device. If your website displays content from a third party (eg from an advertising network or a streaming video service) this third party may read and write their own cookies or similar technologies into “your” users’ devices. Obviously, the process of getting consent for these cookies is more complex and our view is that everyone has a part to play in making sure that the user is aware of what is being collected and by whom.

There are a number of initiatives that seek to ensure that users are given more and better information about how their information might be used. These will no doubt adapt to achieve compliance with the new rule but we would advise anyone whose website allows or uses third party cookies to make sure that they are doing everything they can to get the right information to users and that they are allowing users to make informed choices about what is stored on their device.

This may be the most challenging area in which to achieve compliance with the new rules and we are working with industry and other European data protection authorities to assist in addressing complexities and finding the right answers.