There has been a major revision of the ePrivacy Directive published 25th May that forces businesses to change the way they collect data from their websites. Currently, cookies are implemented on website for tracking and to improve user experience, however few users are aware of the number of cookies and the amount of tracking that websites are using.
At present, those savvy users that find cookies an evasion of privacy can opt out through their browse settings and, currently just 25% of UK user removes cookies (by clearing their cache) at least once a month (comscore 2010).
But the new directive rule now states that cookies can only be allowed if the user has given prior permission. At this time less than a third of the 27 EU countries have complied with the directive – Denmark and Estonia being two of them. Government across Europe are finding it difficult to come up with a workable solution that will satisfy both businesses and user privacy rights.
At present the UK government is unlikely to meet the EU deadline because the directive, while noble, is impractical in the UK market where a user can have an average of 13 cookies on their computer at any time.
However, the directive is a law and whist the ICO is debating the rights of the UK consumer vs the needs of the industry, we are running out of time. We now only have a year before businesses can face a maximum fine of $800,000 for using cookies without permission.
The best solution at the moment would be for the browser to control the permission settings – this would be the best one-fits-all approach. This route leads to discussions with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox for a solution that may include a header with increased visibility for cookies.
So, this all means that businesses should immediately start to review their current privacy policy and assess what changes would need to be made. No overarching decision or process has been agreed at present, so businesses and digital marketers cannot physically do or change anything as of yet, but must keep a close eye on news stories and trade boards for the latest information
Comment

