{
"$type": "site.standard.document",
"canonicalUrl": "https://www.simoncox.com/post/2012-05-28-eu-cookie-consent-law-largely-ignored/",
"description": "The UK had until May 28, 2012, to comply with the EU cookie law. How many organizations met the ICO's deadline?",
"path": "/post/2012-05-28-eu-cookie-consent-law-largely-ignored/",
"publishedAt": "2012-05-28T09:00:00.000Z",
"site": "at://did:plc:tki7vwlanxbwrz2er67eaeqa/site.standard.publication/3mp4h4md7zv2y",
"tags": "Web",
"textContent": "{loading=\"eager\"}\n\nMost UK organisations have ignored the EU directive on cookies\n \nThe EU Cookie Consent law has been making a lot of waves in the web industry since it was first announced. The UK was given an extended period to implement the law and this has been overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office. — “the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals” — know as the ICO.\n\nThe ICO published a list of organisations that it has written to, spread across a wide spectrum of operations, and in many cases has been working with to get feedback on the approach to the cookie law issue. This resulted in an 11th hour change to the law on the 24th May 2012 much to the outrage of those companies that have spent a lot of time and effort getting compliant in time.\n\nI reviewed that list of organisations expecting to see the majority of sites in compliance with the new law — especially since the ICO had highlighted these and had been in contact. These were my findings:\n\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"2\" style=\"margin: 0 0 3rem 0\"><thead><tr><th colspan=\"4\"><span class=\"caps\">UK</span> top organ­i­sa­tions cook­ie review</th></tr></thead><tfoot><tr><td colspan=\"4\">© Simon Cox</td>\n</tr></tfoot><tbody><tr><td><strong>Organ­i­sa­tion</strong></td>\n<td><strong><span class=\"caps\">URL</span> reviewed</strong></td>\n<td><strong>Opt in/​out?</strong></td>\n<td><strong>Cook­ies</strong></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Acu­men Pro­fes­sion­al Intel­li­gence Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/\">http://​www​.thes​tu​den​t​room​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td> \n</tr><tr><td>Ama​zon​.co​.uk Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.amazon.co.uk/\">http://​www​.ama​zon​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">AOL</span> (<span class=\"caps\">UK</span>) Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.aol.co.uk/\">http://​www​.aol​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">11</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Apple (<span class=\"caps\">UK</span>) Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.apple.com/uk/\">http://​www​.apple​.com/uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Argos Lim­it­ed</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.argos.co.uk/\">http://​www​.argos​.co​.uk</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Asso­ci­at­ed News­pa­pers Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.dmgt.com/\">http://​www​.asso​ci​at​ed​news​pa​pers​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Auto­mo­bile Asso­ci­a­tion Devel­op­ments Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.theaa.com/\">http://​www​.theaa​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Bar­clays Bank <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.barclays.co.uk\">http://​www​.bar​clays​.co​.uk</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">BBC</span> News</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news\">http://​www​.bbc​.co​.uk/​news/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">5</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">BBC</span> Radio <span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1\">http://​www​.bbc​.co​.uk/​r​a​dio<span class=\"numbers\">1</span>/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">BBC</span> Sports</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport\">http://​www​.bbc​.co​.uk/​s​p​o​rt/<span class=\"numbers\">0</span>/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Belfast City Council</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.belfastc​i​ty​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Bet­fair Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.betfair.com/\">http://​www​.bet​fair​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">11</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Boots <span class=\"caps\">UK</span> Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.boots.com/\">http://​www​.boots​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">11</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>British Air­ways <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb\">http://​www​.britishair​ways​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">18</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>British Broad­cast­ing Corporation</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/\">http://​www​.bbc​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">7</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>British Sky Broad­cast­ing Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.sky.com/\">http://​www​.sky​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">8</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Chan­nel Four Tele­vi­sion Corporation</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.channel4.com/\">http://​www​.chan​nel<span class=\"numbers\">4</span>​.com/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">5</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Depart­ment For Transport</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport\">http://​www​.dft​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Deputy Com­pa­ny Secretary</td>\n<td>?</td>\n<td>?</td>\n<td>?</td>\n</tr><tr><td>Der­ry City Council</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.derrystrabane.com/\">http://​www​.der​ryc​i​ty​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Direct Line Insur­ance Plc</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.directline.com/\">http://​www​.direct​line​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Domino’s Piz­za Group Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://corporate.dominos.co.uk/\">http://​www​.domi​nos​.uk​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Dum­fries and Gal­loway Council</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.dum​gal​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>easy­Jet Air­line Com­pa­ny Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.easyjet.com/en/\">http://​www​.easy​jet​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">21</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Ebay (<span class=\"caps\">UK</span>) Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.ebay.co.uk/\">http://​www​.ebay​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Every­thing Every­where Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://ee.co.uk/\">http://​every​thingev​ery​where​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Face­book <span class=\"caps\">UK</span> Ltd</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/\">http://​www​.face​book​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">5</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Giv​ing​.com Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.justgiving.com/\">http://​giv​ing​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">5</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Google <span class=\"caps\">UK</span> Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.google.co.uk/\">http://​www​.google​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Group Reg­u­la­to­ry Relations</td>\n<td>?</td>\n<td>?</td>\n<td>?</td>\n</tr><tr><td>Hall­mark Cards <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.hallmark.co.uk/\">http://​www​.hall​mark​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Hay­mar­ket Media Group Ltd</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.haymarket.com/\">http://​www​.hay​mar​ket​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">HSBC</span> Bank <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.hsbc.co.uk/\">http://​www​.hsbc​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">IPC</span> Media Ltd (<span class=\"caps\">NME</span>)</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.ti-media.com/\">http://​www​.ipc​me​dia​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Jamie Oliv­er Enter­pris­es Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.jamieoliver.com/\">http://​www​.jamieo​liv​er​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Jet<span class=\"numbers\">2</span>​.com Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.jet2.com/\">http://​www​.jet<span class=\"numbers\">2</span>​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">14</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>John Lewis <span class=\"caps\">PC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.johnlewis.com/\">http://​www​.john​lewis​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Lloyds <span class=\"caps\">TSB</span> Bank <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.lloydsbank.com\">http://​www​.lloyd​stsb​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Merthyr Tyd­fil Coun­ty Bor­ough Council</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.merthyr.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.merthyr​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Met Office</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.metof​fice​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Micro­court Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.jacquielawson.com/\">http://​www​.jacquielaw​son​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">10</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Microsoft Lim­it­ed</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/\">http://​www​.microsoft​.com/​e​n​-​g​b​/​d​e​f​a​u​l​t​.aspx</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Mind Can­dy Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://mindcandy.com/\">http://​mind​can​dy​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Mon​ey​su​per​mar​ket​.com</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.moneysupermarket.com/\">http://​www​.mon​ey​su​per​mar​ket​.com/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>MyMaths Lim­it­ed</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.mymaths.co.uk/\">http://​www​.mymaths​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Nation­al Assem­bly for Wales</td>\n<td><a href=\"http://www.assembly.wales/en/Pages/Home.aspx\">http://​www​.assem​bly​wales​.org/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Nation­al Lottery</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/\">http://​www​.nation​al​-lot​tery​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">9</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Nation­al West­min­ster Bank <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://personal.natwest.com/personal.html\">http://​www​.natwest​.com/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Net­work Rail Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.networkrail.co.uk/\">http://​www​.net​workrail​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Next Group <span class=\"caps\">PLC</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.nextplc.co.uk/\">http://​www​.nextplc​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">NHS</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.nhs.uk/\">http://​www​.nhs​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">NHS</span> Choic­es</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.nhs.uk/\">http://​www​.nhs​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>North­ern Ire­land Assembly</td>\n<td><a href=\"http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.niassem​bly​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Pub­lic Ser­vice Ombuds­man Wales</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.ombudsman.wales/\">http://​www​.ombuds​man​-wales​.org​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Qype Lim­it­ed</td>\n<td>http://​www​.qype​.co​.uk/</td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">19</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Right­move Group Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.rightmove.co.uk/\">http://​www​.right​move​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Roy­al Soci­ety For The Pro­tec­tion of Birds</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.rspb.org.uk/\">http://​www​.rspb​.org​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">14</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Sains­burys Super­mar­ket Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/\">http://​www​.sains​burys​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">10</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Scot­tish Government</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www2.gov.scot/\">http://​home​.scot​land​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>Yes</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Scot­tish Parliament</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.parliament.scot/\">http://​www​.scot​tish​.par​lia​ment​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Scot­tish Pub­lic Ser­vices Ombudsman</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.spso.org.uk/\">http://​www​.spso​.org​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Tesco Stores Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.tesco.com/\">http://​www​.tesco​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">6</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>tfl​.gov​.uk</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://tfl.gov.uk/\">http://​www​.tfl​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">3</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>The Cab­i­net Office</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office\">http://​www​.cab​i​netof​fice​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>The Nation­al Trust</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/\">http://​www​.nation​al​trust​.org​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">10</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>The Office Of The Ombuds­man For <span class=\"caps\">NI</span></td>\n<td><a href=\"https://nipso.org.uk/\">http://​www​.ni​-ombuds​man​.org​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">4</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Trad­er Pub­lish­ing Ltd</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.autotrader.co.uk/\">http://​www​.auto​trad​er​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">25</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td><span class=\"caps\">TSL</span> Edu­ca­tion Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.tes.com/tesglobal\">http://​www​.tsle​d​u​ca​tion​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Turn­er Broad­cast­ing Sys­tem Europe Ltd</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.warnermediagroup.com/\">http://​www​.turn​er​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Vir­gin Media Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.virginmedia.com/\">http://​www​.vir​gin​media​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">18</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Weight­watch­ers</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/\">http://​www​.weight​watch​ers​.co​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">8</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Welsh Gov­ern­ment</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://gov.wales/\">http://​wales​.gov​.uk/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">1</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>William Hill (Book­mak­ers) Ltd</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://www.williamhill.com/\">http://​www​.williamhill​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">2</span></td>\n</tr><tr><td>Yahoo <span class=\"caps\">UK</span> Limited</td>\n<td><a href=\"https://uk.yahoo.com/\">http://​uk​.yahoo​.com/</a></td>\n<td>No</td>\n<td><span class=\"numbers\">5</span></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table> \n\n \n \n \n\nOf the 75 organisations listed by the ICO 13 had implemented a cookie consent function, 60 had done nothing (and may not need to) and 2 I could not fathom who the ICO had written to so could not find a website to test.\n\nThis is despite good advice and tips on Cookie Consent law implementation. being readily available around the web. One UK agency, Silktide, have even created a Cookie Consent kit. that takes 5 minutes to update a site to make it compliant. For the bigger companies though this kind of change is a challenge and the court costs and fines may well be less than the cost of implementation.\n\nIf you want to read more about the Cookie Consent law I suggest you start your journey at the ICO..\n\n_To do this test I used the Ghostery Chrome plug-in to show the cookies but in some cases it did not detect any so on further investigation with the Web Developer plug in I was able to see the cookies set by the website. It’s not perfect but its a good indication of the state of compliance with this law._\n\nNote that simoncox.com is not on the ICO list and therefore I have not been directly consulted by the ICO and since none of the EU websites have bothered to comply (seriously!) I will wait to see what the best practice is — or for a change in the law.",
"title": "EU cookie consent law largely ignored"
}