We’ve just put together a video which explains the laughable new EU cookie law in two and a half minutes.

More on the cookie law

• The definitive guide to the Cookie law
• Cookie law makes most UK websites illegal: what you need to know
• Can we use analytics with the new UK cookie law?
• First example of new cookie laws in effect: brace yourselves

Video transcript

Ok so most European websites just became illegal due to a new law on cookies. If you’re in Europe, your website is probably breaking the law right now.

A cookie is a really common technology for remembering who you are between webpages. They allow things like login, preferences, tracking visitors and ads that remember who you are and target stuff at you. Almost every website uses cookies and has done for years.

The new law requires all websites to ask their visitors for permission to use cookies, say with a popup like this.

Because nearly all websites use cookies, this could mean a lot of popups.

The law does allow an exception for some “strictly necessary” cookies. It doesn’t allow cookies for measuring visitors to your website or advertising.  If you haven’t noticed, most stuff on the Internet is free and most of that is paid for by targeted ads.

The law is meant to help protect people’s privacy, but it comes over pretty heavy handed. It’s like banning all music to prevent another Justin Bieber album.

So – what happened?

Back in 2009 the EU issued a Directive banning the use of cookies without prior consent.

A Directive isn’t a law but forces the member states to create their own laws; these were due by May 2011. Only 3 of the 27 countries met the deadline: Denmark, Estonia, and the UK which only sort-of-half met it.

The UK realised no-one was ready and on the day the law came out said they wouldn’t prosecute anyone for another year, which did a lot for the blood pressure of panicked website owners everywhere. But it is still law and anyone in the EU will eventually have to meet it.

There are only three things websites can do:

1. Ignore the law
2. Stop using cookies
3. Ask for permission

If you ignore the law, chances are you won’t get sued first. That’s not sound legal advice, but it’s true. We expect most people will try to ignore the law as long as possible.

You could stop using cookies. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, because most web technology uses cookies everywhere. So even if you want to, you probably can’t turn them off yet, at least until new software comes out.

Or you could start asking for permission. If you want to keep on using cookies, you’re going to have to. And that means getting in people’s way.

One option is a popup, which were once so popular that every major browser blocks them automatically.

Slightly better: an accordion, which slides down from the top of the screen like this.

For a real example take a look at the ICO – they’re the body responsible for the new law in the UK. This – thing – appears at the top of every page, and won’t go away until you accept their cookies. Worst of all, the long question they ask assumes that visitors know what a cookie is – when surely the law is designed to protect those who don’t – and is doesn’t actually say what their own cookies do, which is track their own visitors.

So essentially the body responsible for telling us what to do has given us a fine example of what not to do on their own website.

In conclusion:

• The law is here
• It probably won’t kill you (yet)
• Solutions are painful but necessary

Or you could just move to another country.

I’m Oliver from Silktide, I hope you found this useful, please subscribe for more videos like this one.