Website services
Cookie management service
A simple and affordable way to stay the right side of the EU cookie directive.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
The EU Directive on cookies, effective from 26 May2011, puts a new compliance burden on website owners, including owners of sites delivered by third parties.
Understanding how many cookies you have on your site, whether you really need them, and how to meet the requirements of the legislation, involves risks that can consume significant staff and management time.
Simply removing cookies from websites risks compromising usefulness and usability and is not a realistic option for organisations looking to shift more services online. The law makes it clear that website owners must be aware of all cookies on their site, whether set by them, or as is often the case, they have been set by third parties. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is responsible for enforcing the new law, has allowed all organisations one year from May 2011 to put their house in order. This is not a suspension of the law and complaints about serious breaches will still be investigated. In partnership with Cookie Reports Ltd, Socitm Insight has come up with a simple and practical response to this new requirement. It is available to all local public services and, as it is a shared service, can be offered at an affordable price.
What the service comprises now
- Headline results form an initial audit of cookies appearing on your main website have been sent to all local public service organisations (free of charge).
- A full report detailing all cookies on your main site and the pages on which they appear.
- A plain English 'How to' guide describing options for informing the public about cookies on your site so that you can keep on the right side of the legislation.
How the service will develop
When your house is in order, it is important to keep on top of things. Later in the year Socitm Insight will launch a monitoring service, integrated with an 'active cookies page'. This link with a monthly check of the site will offer visitors all the detail that they need, together with a legal framework to ensure that they can make an informed choice about their continued use of your site. This facility can also be linked with the pre-launch checking of pages, ensuring that only 'approved' cookies can be used across the site.
What the service costs
By contracting direct with Cookie Reports Ltd on behalf of local public service website owners, Socitm has been able to secure a 'bulk-buy' discount of between 30% and 60% on published commercial rates. These discounts are reflected in all the charges made for this service. The cost of providing the service is linked to the number of pages on your main site that need to be checked for cookies. Large sites pay more than smaller ones as can be seen in the table of charges. As always, Socitm Insight subscribers will pay less than others.
Initial audit and 'How to' guide
| Band* | Subscriber | Non-subscriber |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 (under 1250 pages) |
£150 | £250 |
| Band 2 (1250 to 7500 pages) |
£400 | £600 |
| Band 3 (over 7500 pages) |
£900 |
£1,200 |
Ongoing monitoring service
The costs of this will be from £25 to £120 per month depending on size of websites with significant discounts for Socitm Insight subscribers. Why is this service needed? Some web teams will be confident that they can detect cookies without help from third parties. However, given that source code on every page has to be examined, there is plenty of scope for error. We are aware of cases in which some well-known websites in the public and private sectors, including some run by local authorities, have significantly underestimated instances of cookies on their websites. For example, one county council that researched the issue published a detailed spreadsheet showing 60 examples over three public-facing websites. The method used by our service found 1,000 cookies with 150 instances of JavaScript code that sets cookies. The 'How to' guide that comes as part of this service will provide much more help and guidance for getting your house in order in the run-up to May 2012.
To use our service
- We invite you to place an order
- You will receive the initial audit report for your main site and 'How to' guide within 48 hours of your order
If you have multiple domains, we advise you to concentrate first on the audit of your main site, which will also confirm links to other domains, and then contact us if you need additional help for them.
Cookies and the Website take-up service
If you are using the Socitm Insight Website take-up service, you will be aware that it requires the dropping of a cookie in order to prevent people being invited more than once per year. Following legal advice, we have advised subscribers on what they need to do to draw the attention of respondents to this and comply with the cookie legislation. The advice is available at www.socitm.net/cookiesadvice.
About Cookie Reports Ltd
Cookie Reports Ltd has licensed the use of the Sitemorse engine, has subsequently built and now operates an online service for website cookie auditing, monitoring and reporting. Socitm Insight has had a long-standing relationship with Sitemorse for the provision of information about the technical resilience of websites published each year since 2003 in Better connected. Cookie Reports Ltd also works together with FFW, one of the leading EU legal advisors in the area of privacy and is talking with the ICO on solutions to support both the legal requirements, and practicalities of cookie usage and reporting on websites.
Further information on the new rules on the use of cookies
- Information Commissioner's Office - www.ico.gov.uk.
- All about cookies - www.allaboutcookies.org.
- Legal advisor used by Socitm - www.kingsleynapley.co.uk.
- Cookie Reports Limited - socitm.cookiereports.com.
You can purchase your initial audit and 'How to' guide or if you have further questions, contact Terry Madgwick (terry.madgwick@socitm.net / 01483 855288).
Cookie management service leaflet ( 108.65 KB PDF)
