Europe's war on cookies
wired.co.uk
Europe's war on cookies
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Re: Europe's war on cookies
#2[deleted]
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#3The UK Information Commissioner's report on the coming legislation:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_...
There is no requirement to ask for permission to issue cookies if the cookies are "strictly necessary" for the task, such as for logging into a user account or using a one-click -style purchase. I have the impression that it will principally affect user-tracking systems like Google Analytics and those used in targeted advertising.
Something about the law is unclear to me: the ICO's summary of the law seems only to apply if you store state about the cookie. If you insert Google's javascript to issue an Analytics cookie, doesn't that make it Google's problem, since they are storing the data about the cookie? Which would be kind of harsh, since they have no control of the web page's behaviour. But the ICO report talks of there being site owner's responsibility if they cause the data gathering to happen, which suggests that is the problem of the Analytics javascript embedder.
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#4The UK Information Commissioner's report on the coming legislation: http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_... There is no requirement to ask for permission to issue cookies if the cookies are "strictly necessary" for the task, such as for logging into a user account or using a one-click -style purchase. I have the impression that it will principally affect user-tracking systems like Google Analy…
Thats a good find. However "strictly necessary" is pretty vague. Tracking your own users on your site to optimise it for them would potentially be out of the question. Though if you sign up you could implicitly allow it with terms and conditions.
Still doesn't help with anonymous users...
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#5The UK Information Commissioner's report on the coming legislation: http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_... There is no requirement to ask for permission to issue cookies if the cookies are "strictly necessary" for the task, such as for logging into a user account or using a one-click -style purchase. I have the impression that it will principally affect user-tracking systems like Google Analy…
Thats a good find. However "strictly necessary" is pretty vague. Tracking your own users on your site to optimise it for them would potentially be out of the question. Though if you sign up you could implicitly allow it with terms and conditions. Still doesn't help with anonymous users...
I'm still reading the ICO report. It does talk at some length about what kind of measures are needed to comply with the coming legislation, and emphasises that the rule is about privacy protection, and that uses of cookies that don't build up a picture of users aren't what it targets.
The legislation does look bad for startups whose business plan revolves around accumulating data on users or selling targeted ads, but the ICO report looks pretty aware of how cookies are used in practice and not at all the "ignorant intervention" that the article describes.
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#6The UK Information Commissioner's report on the coming legislation: http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_... There is no requirement to ask for permission to issue cookies if the cookies are "strictly necessary" for the task, such as for logging into a user account or using a one-click -style purchase. I have the impression that it will principally affect user-tracking systems like Google Analy…
Thats a good find. However "strictly necessary" is pretty vague. Tracking your own users on your site to optimise it for them would potentially be out of the question. Though if you sign up you could implicitly allow it with terms and conditions. Still doesn't help with anonymous users...
"Implicitly allow it with terms and conditions"
The ICO report says that is fine, provided that it is (i) sufficiently informative and (ii) you provide an update to existing users about the change in terms.
I'm wondering about the following: what if I wrote a bit of Javascript serving up a picture of a pile of cookies during normal use, which can be clicked on to to call up a pop-up window describing how my site makes use of customer-tracking software with a dialog allowing the user to switch to untracked mode. Untracked mode could be implemented by issuing -you guessed it- a cookie, but one which is only used to check that the user opts out, and so is "strictly necessary" for this approach.
It's sailing close to the wind: there's no positive act of consent; but by making it easy to see the state of privacy and change it, it is arguably more privacy-friendly than a T&C. I'm tempted to try it on my site and get feedback.
The ICO report also talks about use of browser settings to govern privacy.
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#7> Traditionally, the US and the UK have taken a more relaxed approach to privacy. But the legislative and interventionist tendencies of Europe -- and of France and Germany in particular
Now, this is the first time in a decade that I couldn't avoid a smug face and tiny bit of affection formy home country..
Seriously: As others pointed out here, this is a targeted law against privacy breaches. If your company builds its business model on user tracking you'd better ask them to opt in.
I seriously cannot even understand the negative sentiment.
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#8> Traditionally, the US and the UK have taken a more relaxed approach to privacy. But the legislative and interventionist tendencies of Europe -- and of France and Germany in particular Now, this is the first time in a decade that I couldn't avoid a smug face and tiny bit of affection formy home country.. Seriously: As others pointed out here, this is a targeted law against privacy breaches. If your company builds it…
What's wrong with advertising geared towards your interests? Or do you enjoy watching ads on penis enlargements, gambling, whitening teeth and How To Get Rich While Sleeping?
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#9> Traditionally, the US and the UK have taken a more relaxed approach to privacy. But the legislative and interventionist tendencies of Europe -- and of France and Germany in particular Now, this is the first time in a decade that I couldn't avoid a smug face and tiny bit of affection formy home country.. Seriously: As others pointed out here, this is a targeted law against privacy breaches. If your company builds it…
What's wrong with advertising geared towards your interests? Or do you enjoy watching ads on penis enlargements, gambling, whitening teeth and How To Get Rich While Sleeping?
It implies that someone has built a profile describing your interests from your behaviour. Many people find that creepy, and not worth targeted advertising. It's reminiscent of secret police behaviour with their networks of informants, and is not a distant memory in much of Europe.
Re: Europe's war on cookies
#10There are other ways to track users than cookies[1]. With enough browser information you can identify users fairly uniquely.