Explicit permission to be required for cookie usage

[Duncan Rounding]

I liked this related article: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201...sparency.shtml

[Steve G Griggs]

Bumbling idiots is putting it mildly..I would put it stronger than that.
Definitely couldn't organize a p*** up in brewery.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum I think.
As for Duncan's comment about interesting reading, yes interesting but also depressing and disturbing that these ####### are in charge.

[Chunkford]

As I posted on UKBF, they're a bunch of bumbling idiots.
Anyone who has a say in this should at least have some online business background. The fact they are letting the Department for Culture, Media and Sport draft it up says it all really!

[Steve G Griggs]

Cookies.

From what I have read about this it seems to be:
1) Rushed and ill thought out (as usual)
2) At best a nightmare to enforce
3) How will it work if the required pop-ups are blocked?
4) It will make the majority of e-commerce sites very difficult to use.
5) Sites that retain preferences (such as the BBC News) will loose the facility, or it will become very difficult to use.
6) The "bad guys" won't take any notice, and will carry on as usual.
7) Will the average website visitor understand whats going on and what it's all about anyway.
It looks like the usual EU cock up to me.
It has the potential to harm the traders who do their best to comply with online/distance selling regulations, and not affect the rogue traders / tracking / spamming people very much.
Anyway it (hopefully) looks like the UK government is unlikely to adopt it any time soon from the latest on the BBC news website.

[Duncan Rounding]

It makes interesting reading on the UK Business Forums: http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/fo...d.php?t=198849

[guccij]

More on this online today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12677534

Doesn't really say much new, just that enforcement won't start in May as no-one has a clue what the implications of this are yet.

[cbarling]

From the standard terms and conditions that ship with Actinic v10:

"Cookies are used on this shopping site to keep track of the contents of your shopping cart, to store delivery addresses if the address book is used and to store your details if you select the 'Remember Me' Option. They are also used after you have logged on as part of that process. You can turn off cookies within your browser by going to 'Tools | Internet Options | Privacy' (in Internet Explorer) and selecting to block cookies. If you turn off cookies, you will be unable to place orders or benefit from the other features that use cookies."

Chris

[guccij]

Although it becomes EU law in May, the Information Commissioner accepted that there would need to be a period of grace in the UK. He suggested October as the effective start date in the UK.
I'm just going to add a link in the footer to our existing privacy page.

--edit--

As far as "Users should have the opportunity to refuse to have a cookie or similar device stored on their terminal equipment" is concerned, then consumers already have this option through their browser settings.

People will soon realise that without cookies, nothing will work properly without constant logging in and out, this community included.

[NickD]

The radio interview about this is now available on the BBC iPlayer:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ay_08_03_2011/

at 2 hrs 44 mins 40 secs.

Nick

[NickD]

I'm sure that's right - and that they don't understand the issues they are attempting to regulate - but what is needed is recognition of that from the powers that be, hence my suggestion for dialogue to agree an approach. I imagine that any enforcement of this would possibly fall to Trading Standards, who will have even less understanding of the issues concerned and will go into jobsworth mode and simply declare sites to be non-compliant, then do all sorts of horrible things to us.

I don't think anyone, least of all Actinic, can afford to ignore this.

[Duncan Rounding]

Nothing other than what is referenced above is known at this stage. Frankly I don't believe anything will happen on 99.99% of sites other than perhaps a message on the page relating to the use of cookies and tracking information. The opt out is to leave the site.

It is not practical to use pop-ups or logins for this purpose. if enforced to the Nth degree then we would all be out of business, Google included.

Options are already included for users to reject or not accept cookies from within the browser.

[NickD]

Seems we've opened a can of worms here and that some dialogue is needed quite quickly - if Actinic isn't part of "the industry" then I don't know who is!

It would surely be possible to force all users to login via a user account - and an appropriate warning could be presented at the login stage - but then where would we stand with deep-linking, and what would be the deterrent effect on simple browsing? I bet the number of visitors/sales would fall.

[Duncan Rounding]

...This is the stuff that the regulators will be discussing with industry on how it can be applied so I suspect it's still all up in the air with nothing decided yet.

Mike

Agreed, there appears to be nothing decided as to how this will happen but it is due to be law from 25 May.

[Duncan Rounding]

It annoys me the way things like this seem to happen and the arrogance of the people involved.

From the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12668552 ...

"It's going to happen and it's the law.”

Christopher Graham
Information Commissioner

[Mike Hughes]

All that I believe will be required is for e-commerce sites to place a note on the page in the footer and/or perhaps or a link to a page that advises the visitor about data privacy and use of cookies advising that if they do not wish to be tracked then to please leave the site. Anything else is not practical.

I'm not so sure on this. The key paragraph seems to be this one, where it seems to me that it's saying you have to ask for an informed consent or offer the opportunity to refuse the use of cookies in a user friendly manner.

(25) However, such devices, for instance so-called "cookies", can be a legitimate and useful tool, for example, in analysing the effectiveness of website design and advertising, and in verifying the identity of users engaged in on-line transactions. Where such devices, for instance cookies, are intended for a legitimate purpose, such as to facilitate the provision of information society services, their use should be allowed on condition that users are provided with clear and precise information in accordance with Directive 95/46/EC about the purposes of cookies or similar devices so as to ensure that users are made aware of information being placed on the terminal equipment they are using. Users should have the opportunity to refuse to have a cookie or similar device stored on their terminal equipment. This is particularly important where users other than the original user have access to the terminal equipment and thereby to any data containing privacy-sensitive information stored on such equipment. Information and the right to refuse may be offered once for the use of various devices to be installed on the user's terminal equipment during the same connection and also covering any further use that may be made of those devices during subsequent connections. The methods for giving information, offering a right to refuse or requesting consent should be made as user-friendly as possible. Access to specific website content may still be made conditional on the well-informed acceptance of a cookie or similar device, if it is used for a legitimate purpose.

Still. This is the stuff that the regulators will be discussing with industry on how it can be applied so I suspect it's still all up in the air with nothing decided yet.

Mike