Aron, you can tell us what a cookie is? This question was a question posed to me today, by group of people looking to starting up their own business.
Now when it comes to things which are web related and I know can seem confusing to non technology savvy people, I give the simplest most easy to understand answer possible. So when asked this question my response was:
Cookies are just little files of text stored on your computer which allow websites to know who you are.
What’s wrong with that answer? Well the problem is although it’s not wrong, it does not explain what impact cookies have on privacy or how it could affect their potential customers. So perhaps a better answer to the question would be:
Cookies are small files of text stored on your computer which allow websites to know who you are. Cookies are used by most websites, to improve your experience. Although mostly harmless, some websites such as Facebook and Google use cookies to track your behaviour, so they can show you relevant adverts.
So this explains the impact of cookies on individuals, but what about if your business website uses cookies? If your website is available to customers in the EU including the UK it is now a legal requirement that you do the following:
- Tell people that the cookies are there
- Explain what the cookies are doing, and
- Obtain their consent to store a cookie on their device
The good news is most websites can meet these requirements with a single link to a page explaining its use of cookies. For example you can read the cookie policy for this website here.
To anyone wanting to know what a cookie is, I hope this makes things clearer. If you would like more information on cookies you can visit the Information Commissioner’s Office page on cookie law. ( Be warned though, it’s a boring read. )
