Has everyone forgotten about cookies?
- visualpanic / Foter / CC BY
It’s over five months now since the new Cookie Law came into force (in May 2012), so I thought this post on Sitepoint was worth highlighting. The author, Craig Buckler, says the following:
“I see no reason to implement confusing pop-ups or other technical solutions for a law which is ambiguous, unenforceable and mostly ignored. Until the situation is clarified, I still recommend:
- You have a “privacy policy” link — probably in the footer of every page.
- Explain your use of cookies and, where necessary, link to the privacy policies of third-party systems such as Google Analytics (google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html).
- If necessary, link to cookie resource sites such as aboutcookies.org which explain how to block, control and delete cookies.
Then forget about it. Unless you’re contacted by a regulatory body with a genuine complaint, there are far better things you can do with your time.”
I must say I tend to agree with him. The ICO is encouraging members of the public to submit any complaints they have about Cookies use, which they are due to review in November. It’ll be interesting to see what the result is; I doubt there’ll be any huge upheaval.
Personally, what I do think should be banned is advertisers presenting content/ads to you based on your earlier browsing/search history (on an unrelated site). It’s too intrusive for my liking… but then I’m not an advertising agency…