The implications of the EU Cookie Law

cookies - Mrs Magic

Despite the very quiet arrival of what is being called the EU Cookie law (see Amendment to Article 5(3) October 2009 Page 77), the debate about the impacts of this small Amendment are just beginning. The vagueness about the implementation of this law does not help and if taken literally the law could move the development of the internet back 10 years, dramatically effect digital marketing and fundamentally change the user experience of any website in Europe. The law is aimed at “controlling those instances where information stored on a user’s equipment” involves “unwarranted intrusion into the private sphere (such as spyware or viruses)”, which is great and everyone welcomes this.

The new Article 5(3) amendment states that information can be stored and accessed “on condition that the subscriber or user concerned has given his or her consent, having been provided with clear and comprehensive information” and according to the amendment each member state including the UK is left to decide how this law should be implemented and enforced

Although the law does not suggest the elimination of cookies a lot depends upon the interpretation and implementation of the law by the EU member states. If taken literally and implemented badly it could mean annoying pop-ups constantly which constantly nag you. Try setting your privacy setting in IE to prompt you for every cookie and see how annoying this can be. This will inevitably lead to switching off cookies all together or accepting everything. A better but not perfect interpretation could mean displaying a privacy landing page before a user reaches any part of the site that requires cookies. This would still have implications for customer conversation in ecommerce and digital marketing activities.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK has a more optimistic view (Consumers given power over cookies) believing this provides a legal basis for cookie management tools in browsers and applications. Browsers today do have cookie management tools as well as anti-virus and security software; however, these are not user friendly or easy to understand for most non-technical users. The real problem is the information supplied by cookies. At present the information describing cookies in a browser based solution is extremely poor and to meet the requirements for comprehensive information much more needs to be done in providing additional useful information. At the moment to find any information about a cookie requires first finding its name from the browser or temporary internet files folder and then searching the web, assuming you know what you are looking for. A browser based solution is going to require more than adding functionality to a browser, it requires thought into

  • What cookie information is required by a user to make an informed decision?
  • Who is responsible for providing this information and how is it regulated?
  • Where does this information come from and how is it stored and managed?
  • What is its format/definition and how is it delivered to the browser or other application?

This seems to indicate a more far reaching solution requiring the definition and adoption of new standards for cookie files, formats and protocols, no small task and the impact of which is not be limited to the EU.

I wrote the The effect the EU cookie law has on websites, marketing and users  to provide a more detailed view on how cookies are used to support website functionality.

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