Cookie Law

[northstreet]

Sorry if I'm trying to teach anyone to suck eggs, but you may know that there's been a change to the law around cookies which will start to be enforced from the end of this month. All owners of websites that use cookies we need to make changes to their site - and that includes this one.

I've been doing some work on this for my employer. Unfortunately no-one's come up with a definitive solution, but the attached article (from a fairly well respected organisation) sets out the position very clearly and the suggested solution will (in my view) be ideal for Basschat.

I'm sure that there are many people in the Basschat community who know far more about this than me, so apologies if I've got it all wrong - only trying to help!

[Kiwi]

Thanks Northstreet, we take privacy concerns and the DPA very seriously. As far as I'm aware (and I'm not the technical expert here) the only cookies the forum uses are mostly to make the site more convenient to use. For example, remembering login information for when the site is accessed in the future.

We can make some adjustments to the registration process and issue a bulk email for existing members. It's not very clear how listing the cookies used by the site is going to help someone understand how their privacy is being managed though...

[Hamster]

We could just add a line of notifying text in the joining T&C about joining the site is giving explicit permission for the website to store cookies etc

[Kiwi]

Yes, that's what I imagined too. Who is policing this law though?

[northstreet]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1337391616' post='1659361']
Yes, that's what I imagined too. Who is policing this law though?
[/quote]

It will be policed by the Information Commissioners' Office (ICO). I can't imagine sites like Basschat are going to be on its radar any time soon but I thought you should be aware.

[quote name='Hamster' timestamp='1337377535' post='1659207']
We could just add a line of notifying text in the joining T&C about joining the site is giving explicit permission for the website to store cookies etc
[/quote]

Putting something in the T&C's for joiners probably won't be enough as you have casual vistors to the site as well.

If you want, when my employer puts its solution live I'll send you a link and you can see what we're doing - which is about the minimum you can do and be on the right side of the law. But as I said I doubt you have an urgent issue but just something to have on the to-do list.

[ShergoldSnickers]

I started a [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176700-new-eu-cookie-law-web-not-biscuits/page__view__findpost__p__1658062"]thread[/url] about this - together with a link to the regulations, and a method of compliance... although it may not be directly usable with the forum software. The thread did seem to wander off topic a little though.

[northstreet]

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' timestamp='1337509381' post='1661003']
I started a [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176700-new-eu-cookie-law-web-not-biscuits/page__view__findpost__p__1658062"]thread[/url] about this - together with a link to the regulations, and a method of compliance... although it may not be directly usable with the forum software. The thread did seem to wander off topic a little though.
[/quote]

Sorry mate, didn't see your thread until after I'd posted. I like your solution but think it may be a bit too much for a site such as Basschat, where (as I understand it) you can continue to rely on implied consent, as long as there's a clear signpost to a plain-English explaination of the cookies used. I deliberately didn't post on Off Topic as I thought it might not be taken too seriously, especially on a Friday evening.

[ShergoldSnickers]

[quote name='northstreet' timestamp='1337522506' post='1661288']
Sorry mate.... I deliberately didn't post on Off Topic as I thought it might not be taken too seriously, especially on a Friday evening.
[/quote]

No problem, and I wish I'd gone your way and not posted in off topic.