I shudder to think how many blog posts have been written about what the website owner should do about the Cookie Law. Millions I would guess. Now that the compliance date has come and gone the world is not really that different to how it was before.
Now it’s live – what is the reality of the Cookie Law?
A lot of businesses have ignored it completely (and the sky hasn’t fallen in).
Several have taken a very low-touch approach, like this one from Tesco. They’ve just moved a link to their privacy and cookie policy to a more obvious location.
Others, like the Times have an overlap explaining that by using the site you’re accepting their cookies.
And there are some who have tried to comply.
Back in May there was a lot of discussion about whether a response such as that of Tesco, or even The Times would be compliant, with many pointing out that neither is to the letter of the law.
Thankfully, things are now a little clearer. For a start the ICO hasn’t yet started to prosecute anyone, or given any indication that they will. They’ve also released an updated set of guidelines, between that and some interviews they’ve been giving it look like the reality is that:
- Implied consent is fine (so you don’t have to get a positive opt in)
- They’re measuring success by the number of complaints they get – so not by the number of complying websites
So, what should website owners do?
Hopefully, now the date’s come and gone and the ICO have given us more information on the reality of how the law’s going to be used… we can all get on with running our websites and looking after our customers.
