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Enforcement of cookie law requires action by all businesses with a website - May 10, 2012 UK businesses could face fines of up to £500,000 if they fail to meet tough new website privacy laws which come into force this month, according to commercial law firm EMW.   EMW warns that there are no exceptions to the law for smaller businesses.   The regulation will come into effect on 25 May, and will mean that visitors to the website will have to give permission for the website to download cookies. The rules will be implemented through changes to The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations in response to an EU Directive.   A cookie is a temporary computer file which gathers information about the user’s online activity. It is activated by a user when they access particular pages on a site.  The cookie is sent from the website to the user’s computer and remains once they leave the site. When the user returns to the site the cookie allows the website to remember their preferences and settings.   Matthew Holman, a solicitor with EMW, said: “The effect of this change in the law will be far-reaching; any business that has a website will almost certainly use cookies at some point or other. The upcoming deadline is a wake-up call for those businesses that have not yet updated their website to gain consent from users.”   EMW explains that the old law only required businesses to give users the opportunity to opt out and was often done by referring to the cookies in a privacy policy.   Matthew continued: “This law marks a major shift in responsibility for the use of personal data. Previously the user had to opt-out; now the user has to opt-in from the beginning.”    EMW says that to prepare for the new rules, businesses need to take the following steps: Review what cookies are used by their website. Decide on the appropriate course of action to give users the choice to accept the use of cookies such as having pop-ups or banners on the website to obtain consent. Make sure these measures are implemented on or before 25 May.   Matthew added: “The risk of a £500,000 fine for extreme infringements of the rules should send a strong message to businesses that they must be ready in time.”   EMW says businesses that have already taken action to deal with the new law should make sure the website’s cookie message is clear, user-friendly and understandable.   Matthew concluded: “For most businesses it is very important that people enjoy using their websites, so strict compliance with the law is not enough.  To be successful, businesses need to make sure that their website also remains user-friendly.  That can be quite difficult to do when asking for permission to use personal data. To this end, collaboration between web designers and lawyers is important to ensure that the website meets the legal requirements while remaining pleasing to the eye and easy to use.” « Go Back © Business-Money.com Ltd

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