EU Cookie Law – WP Cookie Law

WP Cookie Law is a wordpress plugin which installs instantly onto your wordpress enable website. Whenever anyone visits your site for the first time since the plugin was installed ? a popup or a slide down will appear specifically asking their consent to use cookies on their machine. Within a few minutes you can be fully compliant.

What is the EU Cookie Law?

The EU Cookie law is an EU-Privacy Directive that came into action on the 26th may 2012, which means you have to get your users consent to place cookies on their device.

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small text file that can store small bits of data on your device. The Law does not only relate to cookies though. Any type of local browser storage such as flash cookies or HTML local storage are included as well.

What is the big deal?

Well, because a cookie is just a text file it can store anything about a user. The problem is not with cookies as such, but storing personal information about you on your device without you knowing.

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, if the use of the cookie is implied like logging into an application or adding something to a shopping cart then you do not need to inform the user about that as it is obvious you will need to store information about them

But most cookies are going to come from simple analytic, Facebook buttons, or by having banners on your site, and for this you do need permission.

What does WP Cookie Law plugin do for me?

The WP cookie Law plugin will

1. Allow you to edit your message to your users quickly and easily through simple text boxes.

2. Allow you to choose between a light box or slide down to display your message

What are my next steps?

The first thing is to download the plugin and get it installed, next you should do an audit of your site for cookies. In the audit you need to classify your cookies into four categories:

1. Essential Required for your website to function, for example adding an item to your shopping cart

2. Non-Essential but harmless Not essential to the running of your site, but does not contain any tracking information

3. Fairly Intrusive Used to track people on your site, but does not store any personal information on them

4. Very Intrusive Used to track people on your site and provides personally identifiable information

The next step is to then update your privacy policy to reflect the different categories of cookies used in your site as discovered from your audit.