About Cookies

The Cookie Law Explained

The Cookie Law is a privacy regulation that requires websites to obtain visitors’ consent to store or retrieve any information on a computer, smartphone, or tablet.

It was designed to protect online privacy by making consumers aware of how information about them is collected and used online, and giving them the option to allow it or not.

It began as an EU Directive adopted by all EU countries in May 2011. The Directive gave individuals the right to refuse the use of cookies that reduce their online privacy. Each country updated its own laws to comply. In the United Kingdom, this meant an update to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Why the Cookie Law?

Almost every website uses cookies, small data files, to store information in people’s web browsers. Some websites contain hundreds of them.

There are other technologies, such as Flash and HTML5 Local Storage, that do similar things and are also covered by the legislation, but because cookies are the most common technology in use, it’s referred to as the Cookie Law.

What are cookies, anyway?

Cookies are a type of short-term memory for the web. They are stored in your browser and allow a site to “remember” small pieces of information between pages or visits.

They are widely used to make the web experience more personal, which is generally seen as something positive. However, some cookies collect data across many websites, creating “behavioral profiles” of individuals. These profiles can be used to decide what content or ads to show you. This use of cookies for targeting in particular is what the law was designed to highlight. By requiring websites to inform and obtain visitors’ consent, its goal is to give web users more control over their online privacy.

For more information about cookies in general and the different types, take a look at Cookiepedia, the main resource for cookie information.