Whats the New Cookie Law everyone's talking about?

What is a cookie?

 A cookie, also known as an browser cookie. It is usually a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while a user is browsing a website. When the user browses the same website in the future, the data stored in the cookie can be retrieved by the website. Enabling to notify the website of that user's previous activity.

Also, Cookies can only contain data and not code so therefore cannot carry viruses or install malware on a computer.

 The Cookie Law

The law was introduced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in May 2011. May 26th 2012 was the date when the law was finally placed to be followed.

Affected Places

As the day came, major websites made everything clear. Facebook released a set of new privacy policy.

What to do?

You need to demonstrate that you are actively seeking permission to set cookies! For bigger sites, its recommend that a quick Cookie Audit is done to see what sorts of cookies you are using, and they will then suggest the best way to comply with cookie law for your site. For smaller sites, there are a few different ways you can demonstrate seeking permission.

How to do?

For those with bigger sites, who wish to audit how their site uses cookies, here is a good free resource for a self-audit (it uses a Google Chrome plugin):

http://www.cookielaw.org/get-started-with-optanon.aspx


Also:

http://www.attacat.co.uk/resources/cookies

Once you’ve done your audit, we recommend adding a Javascript plugin to your site which will pop-up asking for permission before any cookies are set, allowing your site to comply with the directive!
This is a free, easy to use resource:


http://silktide.com/cookieconsent/code

For more information about cookies and what they do visit

http://allaboutcookies.org

To read the ICC’s complete guide to compliance visit

http://www.international-chamber.co.uk/components/com_wordpress/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/icc_uk_cookie_guide.pdf

Some other useful sites:


http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/privacy_and_electronic_communications/the_guide/cookies.aspx

http://www.civicuk.com/cookie-law

http://www.cookielaw.org/


For more Read This

New EU cookie law (e-Privacy Directive).