Showing posts with label cookie laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookie laws. Show all posts

Thursday, June 14, 2012

EU Cookie Law, Patent Lobbying and Business Compliance: An Evidence-Based Approach is Needed


We already warned everyone about the coming problem of the EU Cookie Law one year ago (at EUPUndit here) and then recently (at EUPundit here) as well.

Unfortunately for them, too few people read LawPundit or EUPundit, preferring blogs and websites that concentrate on quirky off-beat legal questions of little practical value or that focus on politically sensational ephemeral events.

So now, there you have it. The problem is on everyone's doorstep. What to do? We ourselves have adopted the free SilkTide solution (EUPundit here).

We might point out in the context of solving problems raised by the EU Cookie Law that an "evidence-based" approach should be preferred. "Evidence-based" is the new watchword in law, politics, science and humanities -- at least so we allege, because we have been at the forefront of this development in our postings for years -- indeed, we have even started the first Pinterest board to be titled "Evidence-Based".

Specifically, on point, at Out-Law.com at Cookie law disaster should force companies to emulate patent world lobbying, says expert we find written:
"Businesses must engage the media and arms of government more effectively. Like the patent lobbyists they must make clear evidence-based connections between the value of innovative technologies dependent on the use of personal information and the benefits these technologies bring to society."
We would pin that article to our Pinterest board but Out-Law.com, for all of its pioneer posting efforts, is still behind the times and has no Pinterest-capable image that represents its website.

By the way, we do not agree at all -- in many cases -- that patent lobbyists have established evidence-based connections for the overly broad patent protection that the law mistakenly grants today, but there is no doubt that the evidence-based approach must find increasing application at all levels of policymaking and rulemaking in a world dominated by hype that often has little or no actual evidence-based support.

EU Cookie Law Rules: Only Strictly Necessary Cookies Allowed Without Opt-In: European Union "Article 29 Working Party" Issues Advisory Opinion


The Register in the UK via Out-Law.com writes that the Article 29 Working Party, a committee composed of one representative from the national data protection authority of each Member State of the EU, has issued a quasi-regulatory advisory opinion about consent exemptions to the the EU Privacy and Electronic Communications (e-Privacy) Directive.

"Strictly necessary" cookies like those required for online banking or online payment are exempted from the opt-in requirement, i.e. in cases where the service to which the cookies relate would not work without the cookies and where the cookies are "pivotal" to the transmission of communications.

However, not all questions about the "EU Cookie Law" are that clear.
Read the full article.


Friday, May 18, 2012

European Union Cookie Law Compliance Solution: A Free Open Source Plugin at Silktide together with a Definitive Guide to the Cookie Law

We have spent quite a bit of time looking for a plugin solution to the EU Cookie Law -- about which we will report in more detail at the next posting -- and -- until the fog clears about that EU Cookie Law -- have provisionally found a free, open source solution at Silktide that we are going to use on our blogs, which rely on Google Analytics, as many Blogger blogs do, for visitor stats, and Google Analytics uses cookies.

See Silktide - Become compliant
And see also Silktide - Definitive guide to the Cookie Law

The advantage of this open source solution is that it is "opt-in" and should be compliant with the various non-uniform implementations of the various European Union Member States, some of which require prior "opt-in" consent.

It will probably be wise just as a general precaution to also put in additional information about Google Analytics in the Terms of Use or a similar special information page devoted to cookies, and so we plan to do that as well when we finish installing the Silktide solution on our blogs.

Please be advised that we are not recommending the use or installation of this particular plugin solution and expressly disclaim any liability for any solution that any website, blog or other Internet presence takes regarding this EU law based upon our installations or opinions.

When in doubt, consult your attorney.

Crossposted at LawPundit.