Cookie Audit

Helping you comply with the EU Privacy Directive

On 26th May 2011 the EU Privacy Directive came into force.   Under the new legislation, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, (popularly known as the Cookie Law), website owners are required to take a number of actions to protect the privacy and confidentiality of their users.   In particular, they are required to obtain informed consent from their users before dropping or reading cookies on their browsers.

Does this affect me?

Most websites and mobile sites use cookies in order to operate.  They are used to enable shopping baskets, web analytics and advertising tracking technology for example.

In fact, many sites will not operate without cookies. For example, cookies are required to “remember” what items have been placed in a shopping basket.

What do I need to do?

In the UK website owners were granted a one-year grace period to comply with the new legislation.

During this grace period, and once it expires, businesses in the UK will be required to show that they have taken clear steps to comply with the legislation, and that they have adopted the new rules regarding use of cookies on their websites.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who are charged with enforcing the legislation in the UK, have issued guidance requiring website owners to:

• Conduct an audit of cookie usage on your site
• Assess the relative intrusiveness of each of those cookies
• Choose an appropriate consent mechanism based on how intrusive they are

The ICO has the power to impose penalties for non-compliance of up to £500,000 in serious cases that cause “substantial damage or distress”.   However businesses that can demonstrably show that they have taken clear steps to comply are unlikely to be fined, although this situation may change.

How we can help you comply with the new Cookie Law

Our team have developed a comprehensive audit service that will help you to meet the legal obligations imposed by the new law.   We audit your website cookies and provide you with a full report and recommendations on the actions that you need to take to achieve compliance.    And we provide advice that ensures that achieving compliance will not reduce the effectiveness of your website.

In short, our cookie audit service provides you with the following:

• Identifies and records the cookies used across your website including rich media, booking processes, email, display ads, social media plugins, etc.
• Categorises them according to their use and functionality e.g. “necessary to provision of services”, “useful but intrusive”, “helpful and non-intrusive”, “obsolete”, “malicious” or “unsecure”
• Provides a detailed report for you and your team to understand the category, purpose and level of intrusiveness of each cookie
• Provides you with all the information you need to update your privacy policy and obtain consent from users

We use cookie recording tools, combined with our experience in website usability and analytics, to ensure your website is compliant with the new law without hindering your customers’ user journey or conversion rate.

Costs vary by size of website, but our cookie audit service starts from just £800.   With fines of up to £500,000 for non-compliance, this is a small price to pay for your peace of mind.

To get a quote on our cookie audit,
email us or call us on 020 7240 0100.