Friday Marks The Introduction Of The Cookie Law

This Friday marks the last working day for Businesses in the UK to organise their websites to be compliant with the Cookie Law that has been passed with many an international law firm agreeing with this law. The Cookie law is a new law that was passed in 2012 that aims to govern the use of Cookies. Specific websites for businesses must gain ‘informed consent’ form visitors visiting their sites before saving cookies on the computer.

Cookies are the pieces of data captured in the form of personal data when users browse the web which is sometimes used for power advertising. A tool and program is being introduced to the public by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) that enables them to report any websites that are not complying with this Cookie law in the UK. In a disruption to this Cookie Law being passed in 2012, it has been estimated that most sites will not be ready in time. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has stated that they will not be taking immediate action over non-compliant sites but instead will offer guidance until a specified cut off date.

The Cookie law and its implementations are aimed at tackling privacy issues which is a result from the increasing use of cookies which track users’ browsing habits. The guidelines set up by the EU state that the website needs to inform visitors what cookies are being placed on their machine. This will be done by means of a pop up window seeking consent from the searcher. One of Britain’s largest companies, the BBC made its website compliant with the Cookie law on Thursday and when visitors enter the site, they have an option to opt out of Cookies.

This Cookie law enables visitors to websites the opportunity to have their personal data remain private which has certain implications from bombardments of advertising and safety.