New regulations regarding use of cookies came into force last year and website owners were given a one year grace period in which to implement the terms of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. This grace period comes to an end on 25 May 2012, after which point, all website owners will be expected to comply in full with requirements relating to expressly obtaining user consent to use of cookies, and making available to users certain information about which cookies are used (and how they are used) on a website. The Information Commissioner’s Office has been given powers to enforce the terms of the new legislation and is expected to take a robust approach as regards compliance. The cost of non-compliance could pose a financial threat, not to mention a reputational issue.
Not all cookies are sweet – fall short of the regulations and you could be left with a bitter taste. Love them or hate them, you do need to know how to use and deal with cookies appropriately. If you have not already done so, we recommend that you review your website’s privacy policy as a matter of priority to ensure that any provisions relating to cookies comply with the terms of the new legislation.
To assist you in this process, we would be happy to carry out a free compliance review of your existing privacy policy and provide you with an estimate to carry out the legal work required to make your website “cookie” compliant.
