The EU Cookie Law, WordPress, and You

18 April update: read my follow-up post, The EU Cookie Law and its “punishments”

My presentation on The EU Cookie Law, WordPress, and You was delivered on 4 February 2012 at Paid On Results WordUp Glasgow. The presentation covers

• What the EU Cookie Directive is and is not
• When it comes into effect and its consequences
• The law’s advantages and problems
• What you need to do to comply
• How the law affects WordPress
• What’s being done already
• What not to do
• What to watch out for
• What ifs?

Although this was developed for a WordPress audience its guidance is applicable across all content management systems.

When viewing my presentation please keep the following points in mind:

1. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice;
2. If performed incorrectly your compliance process can destroy the authenticity and accessibility of your site. A site whose ethos is destroyed through overly literal compliance is worse than a site which openly rejects compliance. Prioritise accessibility over cookie law compliance;
3. There is no script, plugin, widget, block of code, or third-party service which will make your site 100% legally compliant through the simple acts of installation and activation, particularly in WordPress which has a unique issue or two. There is no easy solution to EU Cookie Law compliance full stop. The existing solutions on the market approach a compliance solution but do not achieve it in and of itself. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is selling you snake oil. To that end, all comments “suggesting” or selling EU cookie compliance “solutions” will be deleted.

Slapping in a plugin or a script called “EU Cookie Compliance” does not achieve EU Cookie Compliance. You still need to educate yourself on the issue, the controversies, and the scope of work. This presentation will get you started on that journey. The final slide contains a list of links and resources to review in your own time.

I gave a new presentation on the EU Cookie Law at WordCamp UK 2012 in Edinburgh on 14 July. My talk gave an update on where we are with this law since this blog post was written and since the law went into effect. View the presentation here.

Click on the “Slideshare” icon at the bottom of the frame to view the presentation in a larger size on Slideshare.

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