• The new cookies law and what you need to do about it
• Low Carbon Hub case study
• The Vincent Wildlife Trust case study

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What are cookies?

Cookies are used by websites to remember information about you. The most common uses of them are:

• To remember what you’ve added to your shopping basket
• To remember who is logged into the website
• To monitor how you use a website

What does the new law say?

You must now get explicit consent from the user before you may use cookies – simply having a privacy policy is no longer good enough.

In addition, you must ensure that the user understands exactly what they are agreeing to by giving them clear information about what cookies are and how you use them.

Why was this law passed?

The aim of the law is to make people more aware of the privacy implications of cookies, to give users an informed choice, and to prevent websites tracking users without their knowledge.

Who does the law affect?

This law affects all websites that use cookies for any reason. Since almost all websites use cookies in some way, this probably includes you!

Even if you have a simple, static website but you use Google Analytics it affects you, since Google Analytics uses cookies. The law makes it your responsibility (not just Google’s) to comply.

How long do we have to comply with it?

The ICO has given us until May 2012 before they will start enforcing the law.

However, they have made it clear that they expect to see progress being made well before then because it could take some months to achieve compliance – so you should act now.

What do you need to do?

The ICO has laid out clear steps it expects you to go through:

1. Conduct an audit to check what cookies your website uses and what they’re used for.
2. Assess how intrusive your use of each cookie is to the user’s privacy, so you can prioritise fixing the intrusive ones.
3. Implement any necessary technical changes to ensure you have consent to use cookies.

What will happen if you don’t?

The maximum penalty for not complying with the law is £500,000 for a serious breach, but that would only be given in extreme cases.

The ICO has made it clear that their response to any complaint will be proportional to (1) how intrusive the cookies are, and (2) how much effort you have made towards complying with the law.

In other words, they will probably go after the biggest and worst offenders first, but if they receive a complaint about your website you must be able to show that you haven’t ignored the new law completely!

How can Alberon help?

We can carry out a full audit of how your website uses cookies and help you to improve your privacy policy and give more information to users.

We can also implement any technical changes required to reduce or eliminate privacy concerns, and get consent from users before using cookies.

Related links

• ICO half term report on cookies compliance
• ICO updated guidance on the rules on use of cookies (PDF)

If you want help complying with the cookie law, call us on 01865 794009 or email us.

Oxfordshire Business Directory

We have just launched the new Oxfordshire Business Directory!

Please take a look, and if you work for a company in Oxfordshire, you can add a listing.

See: www.oxfordshire-business-directory.co.uk

Soha Extra Care

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Extra Care website for the South Oxfordshire Housing Association!

Please see: extracare.soha.co.uk

Low Carbon Hub website

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Low Carbon Hub!

Alberon were lucky enough to also join them for their official launch event at Oxford Town Hall. We had a lovely time and are extremely happy to have been invoved in such a great project.

Please see: www.lowcarbonhub.org

The Vincent Wildlife Trust website

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the brand new website for The Vincent Wildlife Trust.

Please see: www.vwt.org.uk

• Choosing social media
• University of Oxford Department of Physics case study
• The importance of good website copy
• Writers’ Workshop Crime Blog case study
• Cookie law change – what you need to know
• New contact details for Alberon

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On the 26th of May 2011, a new law came into force in the UK that affects most websites. If cookies are used in a site, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011(UK Regulations) provide that certain information must be given to that site’s visitors and the user must give their consent to the placing of the cookies.

Technically all firms must comply with the law but the UK has said that it needs more time to find a workable solution. The government is now looking for a “business-friendly” solution and believes in “light-touch” regulation.

Here’s what we suggest to ensure you are prepared:

• If you have a privacy policy then look at incorporating some information about cookies and what you do with this information.
• If you don’t have a privacy policy then make one!
• Look into using pop-ups to obtain consent for using cookies.
• If your site requires users to sign in then include the mention of cookies and consenting to them in your terms & conditions or terms of use.

If you would like further information about how we can help prepare you for this new legal requirement then please do get in touch.

Culford School

We are delighted to announce the launch of the brand new
website for Culford School.

Please see: www.culford.co.uk

Website copy should consider two things;
1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
2. Keep things simple

SEO should always be on your mind because if your site is high up in the rankings then you can rest assured that people will be visiting your site and not a competitor’s. Optimisations can be done primarily through the strategic placement of keywords throughout your website’s copy, especially on the home page. So not only do you need to grab peoples’ attention with your copy, you need to ensure that the core information on the page contains essential keywords to optimise your site.

Website copy must provide enough information to keep people interested but not so much that they feel overwhelmed and simply go elsewhere. Try and incorporate punchy copy, with eye catching visuals and keep it simple. You want straightforward navigation, your key contact details on every page and convincing copy.

Here at Alberon, we are happy to advise on SEO techniques which work, or direct you to one of our specialist SEO partners should this be what you are looking for. It may seem like a cost saving exercise not to consider copy at the start of a new website design and build but trust us, it is something well worth investing in! Don’t let bad website copy get in the way of reaching your potential customers.