Last updated on January 5th, 2011 at 08:32 pm

Last year the EU introduced new cookie legislation that is due to by implemented by the UK government by May 2011.  This new legislation (covered by Article 5(3) of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive) states that the users consent must be given before businesses are allowed to place cookers on a web users computer or retrieve any cookie information that is already stored on the computer.

There are several versions of when “consent” could be considered to be given depending on who you speak to, some trade bodies and Internet marketing experts think that if a browser is set to allow cookies then this is (or should be) good enough to comply with the need for consent.  An opposing, and much  more dangerous view from a UK Internet websites point of view, is that every time a site wants to place a cookie or read an existing one the user will have to be asked (in a pop up window for example).

As far as I can see there are several drawbacks to having to ask the visitor to a page on a website (note, possibly not just the site itself) if they want to allow cookies.  These range from the inconvenience to the user – can  you imagine having to say “yes” or “no” to cookies when you visit a site (and having to do so each time you visit the site), through to the problems that the UK will then be under a severe disadvantage to sites based elsewhere in the world where such consent is not needed (for example in the USA).  If you are faced with sites that become unusable because you have to answer questions about cookies every time you visit what are the chances that you will start to visit other sites that do not ask the questions and make the browsing experience much easier?

You may be asking what a cookie is and why you should be worried.  In the vast majority of cases, the role of a cookie is to make a user’s interaction with frequently visited websites smoother by eliminating any extra effort on their part. Cookies might record how long you spend on each page, what links you click, and even your preferences for passwords, page layouts and colour schemes. They are often used to store data on what is in your ‘shopping cart’, adding items as you click allowing you to buy more than one item at a time. Cookies do not exist to ‘spy’ on consumers. They are there to make the process of surfing the web easier.

If, as a website owner you feel that having to change your site to ask about cookies is a bad thing – for what ever reason, be it lack of usability, reduction in earnings once online advertising is hit by the requirement, loss of business overseas – I suggest that you publicise this upcoming change to your customers and visitors, contact your local MP (you can find their details here) and write to local and national papers.  The more people know about this the more chance there is that the legislation will be “sensible” in its requirements.