Transparency is no longer a buzzword for internet users. They prefer brands that disclose how they handle user data, including those collected using cookies and other tracking technologies. Furthermore, several data privacy laws require websites to have a comprehensive cookie policy.
This blog will guide you through the cookie policy requirements and equip you to draft one for your website.
What is a cookie policy?
A cookie policy is a legal document that discloses the use of cookies or other trackers on websites. It contains information on the categories of cookies deployed on user devices, their purposes, retention period, and how users can manage cookie preferences. It is sometimes called a cookie notice or cookie declaration.
A cookie policy is distinct from a privacy policy or cookie banner. A website’s privacy policy contains information about how the organization collects, processes, and stores user’s personal data. On the other hand, a cookie policy only contains information related to cookie usage. A cookie banner is a pop-up that appears when you visit a website, asking you to accept or reject cookies.
A common question is whether they need a separate cookie policy. While you can include a cookie policy as a section within your privacy policy, it is most recommended that you publish it as a separate document.
Why is a cookie policy important?
Cookie policy is an integral part of a website’s privacy framework and is important for many reasons. Let us discuss some of them.
Transparency and user trust
Users are more likely to engage with your brand if you are transparent about your data practices, such as categories of cookies, their purposes, the data they collect, for how long you store them, etc.
Legal compliance
Privacy legislation is expanding rapidly at the global level. Almost all laws require businesses to be transparent with users about using personal data.
Privacy laws like the ePrivacy directive and General Data Protection Regulation raise concerns about cookie usage and require organizations to obtain informed consent from users for non-necessary cookies like advertising and analytical cookies. This includes using cookie banners/ pop-ups and cookie policies to inform consumers of the data collection.
In short, although the cookie consent requirements might differ, providing a cookie policy is important under almost all privacy regulations, including California CCPA/CPRA, EU and UK GDPR, etc. Moreover, many European countries, such as Norway, Italy, and Greece have published cookie guidelines.
Integrity
Disclosing your information practices is one of the best ways to build brand credibility. Engaging in deceptive behaviour and concealing things is a red flag for users.
User control
Informing users about cookie usage helps them make an informed decision, especially to opt out of non-necessary cookies. It will also let them know about their rights including consent withdrawal and how to exercise them.
Does my website need a cookie policy?
If your website uses cookies, which they do in most cases, you need to publish a legally compliant cookie policy. This is important even if you only use essential or technically necessary cookies to comply with major privacy laws’s transparency requirements.
Cookie policies must be easily accessible. To fulfil this, you can provide it in the website footer, settings page, account creation or login page, and privacy policy page.
It is equally important to hyperlink it in the cookie banner. If your cookie policy is included within the privacy policy, hyperlink the specific section that discusses cookies, not the entire privacy policy.
What are the different types of cookies that my website uses?
Cookies are small text files stored on your computer or mobile devices while browsing through websites to serve various purposes like improving user experience, remembering preferences, and marketing. Websites use different types of cookies, which can mainly be classified by:
Origin: First-party & third-party cookies
Based on their origin, cookies can be categorized as first-party and third-party. First-party cookies are deployed by the website that the user visits, whereas third-party cookies are deployed by other domains, such as advertising and tracking cookies.
Duration: Session and persistent cookies
Session cookies last during a browsing session or a little longer. They are temporary compared to persistent cookies, which stay much longer on devices.
Purpose: Necessary and non-necessary cookies
Strictly necessary cookies/essential cookies are pivotal for a website’s performance, e.g., for load balancing.
Non-necessary cookies include marketing cookies, analytical cookies, and others that are not essential for website functioning. Under most cookie laws, these types of cookies require user consent.
What should a cookie policy include?
Your cookie policy must contain the following elements:
Introductory statement
It is always better to begin with an introductory statement that conveys the document’s purpose, establishes what cookies are, and why you use them. Here is an example from CookieYes.
Categories of cookies
Include the different types of cookies that your website uses, such as first-party cookies, persistent cookies, session cookies, functional cookies, social media cookies, performance cookies, and analytical and marketing cookies.
Purpose of cookies
You must also specify the cookies’ purposes along with their categories. The following example from CookieYes clearly defines each cookie belonging to the functional category in a tabular format.
Here is a different example from Nestle’s cookie notice.
Cookie duration
You cannot indefinitely store cookies on browsers, meaning they expire after a certain period. Inform users about the duration by including it in your policy. See the above example from CookieYes.
Third-party sharing
You must also clarify which third-party cookies are used, for example- Google Analytics, and who uses the personal data collected through cookies. For a better understanding, consider the below example from Coursera.
Cookie consent preferences
Describe how you obtain cookie consent and specify how they can accept, reject or set cookie preferences. Most cookie laws require websites to obtain prior consent for non-essential cookies such as third-party cookies used for marketing. The following example is from Slack’s cookie policy.
Updates
Describe how you notify users of any changes to the policy and provide the effective date of the last update. For reference, take a look at the images below taken from Uber’s cookie policy.
Updates to the policy
Effective date
4 Steps to writing a cookie policy for your website
Cookie policies should be easily understandable without mixing in unrelated information or jargon. Follow these steps to write an effective cookie policy for your website:
Conduct a Cookie audit
To develop a robust cookie policy, it is crucial to identify the cookies used on your website. This is a continuous process that requires regular updates and can be laborious. However, you can streamline this process and save significant time and effort using the CookiesYes cookie checker tool.
Understand legal requirements
Be aware of the privacy laws that apply to you and know their cookie policy requirements. Keep yourself updated and understand the specific ingredients prescribed by these laws.
Organize the information
Once you have identified the cookies, the next step is to arrange them by adding the required information- category, purpose, duration, domain, etc. Though there is no defined structure, the best practice is to make it easily understandable.
Consent preference and contact information
Describe how you obtain consent from users and how they can change their preferences later. Also, provide your organization’s contact information, such as its mail address/phone number, etc.
Worried about creating a cookie policy that meets all legal standards?
Let CookieYes help you craft it effortlessly
with its free cookie policy generator
14-day free trialCancel anytime
Example of an effective website cookie policy
An effective cookie policy contains detailed information on cookie use without making it complicated. It’s easy to navigate, understand, and concise.
To cite an example, let’s consider CookieYes’ cookie policy. It begins with a brief introduction to what cookies are and why we use them, and each category is explained in detail. It has separate tables for each cookie category- Necessary, Functional, Analytics, Performance, and Advertisement.
It also contains a dedicated section explaining how users can change cookie preferences on various web browsers.
Check out a few more examples:
- Iapp’s cookie policy: It contains a brief introduction and lists the cookies in a tabular format that is easy to understand.
- Slack’s cookie policy: It encompasses required sections and instructions on changing consent preferences for different web browsers.
How to update your website’s cookie policy?
As we discussed earlier, creating a cookie policy is an ongoing process. It involves conducting regular cookie audits to identify new cookies and updating the policy accordingly. Additionally, staying informed about new legal requirements is necessary to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
How can CookieYes help you to create an effective cookie policy?
CookieYes CMP allows you to concentrate on your organization’s growth while we handle cookie compliance for you. Our tools, such as the cookie checker, cookie banner, cookie policy generator, and privacy policy generator, are a convenient all-in-one solution for businesses like yours.
Using the CookieYes cookie policy generator, you can create a cookie policy in minutes at zero expense. The tool is aligned to meet major global privacy law requirements and shields you from non-compliance penalties. The policies we create are user-friendly and use layman’s language to avoid complexities.
Once you sign up for CookieYes, you can scan your website for first-party and third-party cookies.
After generating the cookie data, you can create a cookie policy. One great feature of our tool is that it automatically updates the cookie table of your policy whenever new cookies are found during a website scan. In addition, CookieYes allows you to set up an automatic scanning schedule to keep the cookie list updated.
This way, you can save time and effort and enhance transparency, all while remaining legally compliant.
Many privacy laws in the European Union, like cookie law and GDPR, require websites to publish a cookie policy and a cookie banner/ cookie pop-up. Although the US does not have a separate cookie law, it is best to have a cookie policy if cookies collect personal information like IP addresses.
A privacy policy deals with an organization’s information practices in general, whereas a cookie policy solely deals with cookies and similar technologies, their categorization, purposes, retention period, consent preferences, etc. Cookie policies require updations more often than privacy policies.
GDPR does not specifically require the individual names of cookies in the cookie policy. However, the website must provide detailed information about the different categories of cookies, their purposes, and related details to inform users about the use of cookies.