European Cookie Law

[ScottieDog]

Hello

I have all the Genesis themes, I use them for my own websites and those that I occasionally build for clients.

I'm in Scotland and in May a new law will come in to force and it dictates that I must obtain consent from a visitor before I can use cookies on a website.

I have 2 questions - do the Genesis themes use cookies? (I will still have to obtain consent because all of my sites use Google analytics, but if I know whether or not the Genesis themes use cookies, then at least I won't have to do a site audit).

Does anyone know of any wordpress solutions to obtaining consent?

Thanks,

[adew]

Hi,

Welcome to a minefield....

Genesis doesn't set any cookies, but WordPress does. These cookies (check them out via your browser) are session cookies to store whether logged in/out, etc, and do not track the user as such. Theoretically, this kind of cookie which is necessary for the correct functioning of the site is exempt from the provisions of this law.

Frankly, the only definitive answer will come from a suitably qualified EU-based lawyer, so don't trust any reply you get on a "public" forum. Having said that, this article picks out some interesting points (though rather politicised in places IMO, but that's another story) which may help you decide if you do need to get legal advice.

[ScottieDog]

Thank you, it does seem a bit of a minefield and something that I have yet to see some of the big UK sites address. I wonder if they are all waiting to see who comes up with a solution first?

[HelenaB]

Originally Posted by ScottieDog

Thank you, it does seem a bit of a minefield and something that I have yet to see some of the big UK sites address. I wonder if they are all waiting to see who comes up with a solution first?

More likely they're waiting to see what penalties are imposed - risk/benefit analysis!

I have seen sites with pop-ups that explain their cookie use and basically say that the site won't work properly without them and a yes/no choice of buttons. Should have bookmarked it...

Had another look around on this - there are some WP plugins out there but they're so new that there's not much in the way of information about how well they actually work.

I think a lot of us in the EU have been hoping this would all go away as the implications of implementing the law as it (appears) to stand are pretty awful.

I have been putting off getting in touch with clients about this as it all seems so sketchy - but I think I'll at least let them know what's going on and give them a few alternatives (e.g. AWSTATS) and keep them up to date regarding implementation.

I'm guessing that once notices start going out the amount of plugins etc will increase as will clear, concise advice about how to deal with Google Analytics and Amazon etc etc.

edit (again): It's not a solution but it's quite a good way to introduce the topic to your clients if you're a website designer - The Stupid EU Cookie Law (YouTube)

[adew]

Another resource: http://tech.ipstenu.org/2011/wordpress-eu-compliance/

[ScottieDog]

Thanks for those links, I'll try out couple of the plugins and see how I get on.