Website Cookies: So we’ve just about got everyone up to date with ICO’s GDPR guidance… and along comes an update on their cookie guidance. (I’ll admit – I grimaced!).
Not least because we had to make some changes to our own cookie notices!
Effectively the new cookie rules are:
- People visiting your website have to get notification before they enter that they are being tracked (i.e. a pop up)
- They must have the option to refuse the cookies and continue using the site (no more “accept cookies” notice)
- They have to specifically opt in to be tracked – so you can’t just have a slider selecting YES automatically or a preticked box…they need to actively opt in
- You have to tell people which cookies are being used and what their purpose is
- What does the new cookie notice mean for my business?
Effectively, it’s going to mean a massive drop in data you gather from website visitors. It may also mean that if you (or – more likely – your clients) rely on visitor numbers or advertising revenue, you may see a significant reduction in income.
What do I need to do to comply?
- First, find out what cookies you are using: https://www.cookiebot.com/en/gdpr-cookies/ – this should tell you what cookies are on your website. Most VA websites will have WordPress cookies and Google Analytics installed as a minimum – but you may have others lurking.
- Check your current cookie popup/notification for updates which would make it compliant. A lot of them are working right now on solutions so it may be as simple as updating your plugin.
- Check your current cookie policy – if you bought a policy from a pack/legal adviser, check with them for updates.
- Clear all cookies and test if the pop ups work properly for both NO and YES visitors.
Further reading:
- https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2019/07/blog-cookies-what-does-good-look-like/
- https://www.civicuk.com/cookie-control (ICO uses this one)
- https://metomic.io/
- https://www.osano.com/cookieconsent
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/cookie-law-info/