Do I need a cookie banner on my website?

You've probably noticed that the vast majority of websites have a small pop-up window that comes up when you visit a website. These pop-ups require you to accept certain policies before you can continue reading. It's a cookie banner and the reason why pretty much all websites have them is because the law requires it.

So what is a cookie?

A cookie is a text file that is stored in your browser when you visit a website. Cookies can, for example, store information about the language, the items placed in the shopping basket or similar information that enables you to use the website. However, many websites also use cookies to collect information about the visitor, this data is used to profile the visitor and then deliver targeted adverts to them. You have probably experienced this when you visit an e-commerce site, browse through the products and then see adverts from that site the following day.

What does the GDPR say?

Since 2018, when the GDPR came into force, all websites that use cookies (and that's pretty much all of them) need to have it accepted by the user that they accept the use. Nowadays, it is not enough to simply inform the visitor that cookies are used, but the GDPR requires that you must have a cookie policy and an opportunity for the visitor to say no to the use of cookies. The user must also be given the opportunity to change their choice.

According to the Swedish Electronic Communications Act (LEK), everyone who visits a website should have access to information about what cookies are used, what they collect and why they do so.

What do I need to do to make sure I comply with the law for my website?

There are a few things that need to be organised to meet the basic requirements.

• You must inform what cookies you use and why you do so in a privacy policy.
• You must give the user an active choice if they authorise the use of cookies
• You must give the user the possibility to change their choice
• You must also be able to account to the user for the data you have collected and delete or modify the data.

What tools are available?

There are a variety of companies on the market that specialise in this area. I thought I'd show you a few of the free versions that we at Digitalpartner have used and can recommend:

Cookiepro from Onetrust

Onetrust is one of the largest in the market and provides end-to-end solutions for all aspects of data protection management and security. Part of their services includes the management of cookies. The service is called Cookiepro and is a tool for setting up and managing cookies on websites. They have several paid solutions but also a free version.

With the free version you get:

• A cookie banner following the latest guidelines with the possibility for the user to choose which cookies they accept.
• An automatic scan of the website to find all cookies used
• Categorisation of cookies
• Automatic blocking of cookies that are not accepted
• Possibility to customise the style of the banner to your website
• List of cookies used that are easy to integrate on your website

If you want to try putting a banner on your website, you can find the free version here

Here at Digital partners website, we use this solution from Cookiepro. If you want to see how it works, you can open a private window in your browser and visit our website.

Consent manager

Another example of a cookie banner comes from Consentmanager. They also have a free version.

With the free version you get:

• A cookie banner following the latest guidelines with the possibility for the user to choose which cookies they accept.
• Automatic scanning of the website to find all cookies used, once a day
• Categorisation and purpose of cookies
• Over 30 different languages
• To some extent customisable in appearance. More possibilities in the paid versions
• Works for up to 5000 page views per month
• Easy to get started with

If you want to test putting up a banner from consentmanager on your website, you can find the free version here

On our own website Search partner you can see the cookie banner in action

Google Ads and cookie consent

For those with advertising via Google Ads, it can be urgent to get an approved handling of cookies and then it is not enough with a banner that provides information that cookies are used. It must be actively approved by the user as I described earlier. It is rumoured that in the autumn of 2021, those who do not have a GDPR-approved cookie solution may have their Google Ads account closed.

So you might be in a hurry to get your approved cookie banner up today.

If you need help to set up an approved cookie banner on your website, you are welcome to contact us at Digitalpartner.