Last week, the EU parliament passed a directive which will see consent for every cookie having to be given by users before it is placed on their machine. This law is expected to come into play in 18 months time (26th April 2011). Judging by the feedback on this already, it will be interesting to see whether between now and then the directive will be cancelled or altered.

The implications for this across the EU may prove detrimental, with nearly every modern day website using some form of web cookie. A cookie is a small piece of text stored on a user's computer by a web browser and may contain bits of information such as user preferences, shopping cart contents, the identifier for a server-based session or any other data used by websites.

An exception exists if the cookie is "strictly necessary in order for the provider of an information society service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user to provide the service". So on an ecommerce website, there should be no consent required for cookies used by the shopping cart but, even so, where do you draw the line with which cookies are strictly necessary?

The thought of being inundated with a constant stream of pop-ups asking for cookies consent doesn't bear thinking about. I think some of the people worst affected by this could be affiliates who may have difficulties getting their referrals through to the merchant's website counted. A lot of websites are purely based around affiliation, an affiliate gets rewarded (normally in the form of a commission) for each website visitor they refer to the merchants website that goes on to make a purchase . Even the way that web analytics programs work may need to be assessed and changed as they currently place a cookie on your machine to track user sessions on the site.

If you would like to discuss how Sitemakers can help you with ecommerce solutions, then why not call us today on 0207 099 1002

Written by Geoff Jackson