The law itself is not strictly clear and is subject to interpretation, so unsurprisingly approaches are varied.  Here are just a few of them, to give you an idea of different solutions if are still wondering what actions to take to comply.

The ICO – www.ico.gov.uk

What better place to start than the body responsible for enforcing compliance – the ICO.  The ICO uses a header bar informing visitors that they use cookies, providing a link to their privacy policy and a tick box allowing website visitors to comply.  The message stays visible until the opt in box is ticked, but visitors can still navigate the site if they don’t want to opt in.   In the privacy statement the ICO gives a clear break down of the different cookies being used and their purpose.

The BBC – bbc.co.uk

The BBC website has a status bar at the top of the page to inform users that the site uses cookies.  You can change the cookie settings or if you press continue or carry on using the site, the cookies are set and consent is implied.

On the footer of a website is a link to a page dedicated to Cookies which has its own sub-pages full of information.  Visitors to the site can also choose which cookies they want to opt into.

BT – www.bt.com

BT is using a pop up on the bottom right hand side of the home page, which only seems to appear the first time you access the website.

If you have enough time to read it and don’t quickly navigate to another page it informs you that the cookie settings on the website are set to allow all cookies and that by continuing to use the website, you are consenting to this.

They also feature a cookie control panel on the footer of the website, where users can control and change the cookie settings.

Amazon – www.amazon.co.uk

Interestingly Amazon has taken a very minimal approach.  There is nothing obvious on the home page until you scroll to the very bottom, where they have a small “Cookies and Internet Advertising” link.

When you click on this it, instead of an ‘opt-in’ option, Amazon advises the user that by visiting Amazon’s websites with the browser settings adjusted to accept cookies consent is implied and also provides information regarding how to adjust browser settings to not accept cookies.

They also have a link to their Privacy Notice which informs the user what they use cookies for but don’t detail the different cookies to enable users to choose which they accept and which they don’t.

Given the substantial drop in recorded website analytics that the ICO experienced following their decision to ask users to consent to their use of cookies, it’s no surprise that Amazon wants to take this low-key approach.  It is unlikely however, that this will be good enough for the ICO.

These are just some of the options that websites have chosen to take.

The problem, is that much of this new directive is down to interpretation.  Interpretation by the ICO and by website owners.  And with the lack of guidance, nothing is black and white. Instead there are several areas and shades of grey.

And ironically, according to an article published today on Econsultancy’s website, the EU itself is not even compliant with the new law.  According to the post:

ZDNet’s Zack Whittaker claimed that websites for EU institutions like the European Parliament and European Commission are still using cookies, but they’re not in compliance.  “On all European Union institution websites, you will be lucky to find a single page that asks the visitor for permission to set cookies. But they’re using them all the same”.  (Read post in full)

Confusion still reigns and the EU Cookie Law has been and continues to be a headache for businesses wanting to avoid being in breach.  And things don’t look set to get any clearer.  AS Econsultancy quite rightly asked “if the EU itself won’t abide by its own laws, some might eventually ask: should anybody?”.

Use our comments to tell us what you’ve done to comply with this law and what you think of it? Farcical or necessary? We’d love to know your thoughts…..

Our previous posts about cookies:

Cookie Law Compliance – What Are Your Options?
The EU Cookie Law and The Challenges Businesses Face
Confused about cookies? The EU Cookie law in a nutshell…. (and further reading!)