No to the Cookie Law

by News

A newly launched site has dubbed the upcoming EU Cookie Law “ridiculous,” echoing the sentiments of a growing number of voices across the internet. As these protests grow louder, No Cookie Law aims to raise awareness of the EU cookie law and hopefully increase the chance of changes being made.

No Cookie Law

No Cookie Law is the brainchild of the rising advocate Silktide who had previously brought us a video summarizing the law in under three minutes, and has a newer (albeit slightly longer) video on the No Cookie Law site. Here it is:

As a UK-based site, Speckyboy stands firmly in support of these efforts. As regulations grow while the government continues to intrude into the information economy, the importance of awareness shouldn’t be denied. If you support this campaign, please do take some time to sign Silktide’s petition.

Useful Links

· No Cookie Law Homepage →
· Sign the Petition →
· Download No Cookie Law Buttons, Badges and Banners →

Author: (11 Posts)

Zaher has a passion for design and a background in syndicated writing, editing, research, composition, and project management. He currently juggles health services research, creating print-ready books in a prepress environment, and his own business, Sustainable Clarity. He is based in Madison, Wisconsin.

  • Sullyde

    http://www.number10.gov.uk/ this site appears to be using cookies. I believe it is within the EU :)

    • oliveremberton

      To be fair, even the body responsible for policing the law in the UK – the ICO – haven’t been able to remove all their cookies in the past 11 months of effort. As they concede, it’s not entirely technically possible yet:

      http://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/privacy_statement.aspx 

  • oliveremberton

    By the way – as the creator of that video I’m curious about your comment “albeit slightly longer”.

    The new video is just 1 second longer than the old one! But quite a few people have said similar things. I wonder if it just feels longer for some reason? 

  • Its159am

    “Please let met set some cookies.” Other than that little typo, great video!

  • Not4bidden

    What If your servers are in US and you block the EU users from accessing?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1422960869 Dw Dws

    the “no cookie law” argument is daft! The point of the Cookie Legislation is to provide users with the ability to opt-out of receiving tracking cookies from affiliate networks and such like. It’s the web-user who is central, not the affiliate marketeer – BT.com have implemented a very effective solution. The legislation defines ‘essential’ cookies as being excempt: e.g. shopping basket, analytics. The Cookie Legislation combined with AdBlock Pro will result in a better web for everyone.

    • oliveremberton

      I have no problem with the *point* of the law, but the implementation leads a lot to be desired. 

      Analytics are absolutely NOT defined as essential. Quite expressly the opposite. The ICO stated as much in their latest guidance, but then added it was “highly unlikely” they’d prosecute anyone for using analytics. How reassuring! See: http://blog.silktide.com/2012/02/cookie-law-analytics-are-illegal-but-we-wont-prosecute-you-probably/

      BT.com’s solution is of questionable legality (it’s based around assuming the user opts-in simply by visiting the site, which means you’re setting cookies and then asking afterwards). Whilst elegant to look at it’s not exactly something the average website owner has the resources to develop – I’d imagine BT spent more on that one feature than the average website costs in total. A plethora of non-standard cookie controls, dialogs and lengthy disclaimers does little to improve privacy protection for real users.

      Of course I’m biased. I made that video.