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Businesses commonly use cookies on user devices for various purposes, including to enhance user experience and display targeted adverts. Despite their regular use, cookies are subject to strict legal rules. For instance, users must be given detailed information about the cookies on their devices, usually through a cookie policy document. User consent is also generally necessary to ensure compliance with cookie law. This article will explore how a solicitor can assist your business in ensuring that your cookie policy and practices are legally compliant.
Why Is Legal Compliance Important?
A cookie is a small text file stored on a user’s device, such as a computer or phone. It helps businesses in various ways. For instance, cookies can assist with user identification and information storage, such as login credentials and preferences. Different types of cookies serve distinct purposes, from essential cookies to help with basic functionality to targeting cookies that tailor ads according to user browsing history.
In the United Kingdom, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) govern the use of cookies. These rules require businesses to obtain informed consent from users before deploying most types of cookies, such as those used for performance analytics or targeted advertising. Compliance with these laws is crucial to ensure transparency and protect user privacy. Non-compliance can result in significant regulatory action, including fines and damage to a business’s reputation.
How Can a Solicitor Help Your Business with Compliance?
Navigating complex legal rules and ensuring full compliance with PECR can be challenging. These legal rules are broad in scope and complex, and staying up to date with the latest regulatory guidance requires dedicated time. PECR compliance is also an area that businesses can struggle with, and the data protection regulator has increased its focus on it, with several companies facing action for non-compliance. As such, legal advice from an experienced solicitor in this area of compliance is invaluable.
Taking advice from and working with an experienced solicitor will help give your business peace of mind and ensure that your practices are compliant. A solicitor can advise you on your obligations and help you manage potential risks, safeguarding your business against negative implications.
There are a range of ways a solicitor can help your business work towards compliance.
Some of the most significant ways include the following:
Drafting a Legally Compliant Cookie Policy
A well-drafted cookie policy is vital for PECR compliance. This document informs users about the types of cookies deployed on user devices, their specific purposes (e.g. remembering preferences or analysing website traffic), and the mechanisms for users to manage their consent (e.g. by opting in or out of particular cookie types and how to do this).
While online cookie policy templates exist, they often need significant edits to ensure legal accuracy for complete compliance. A solicitor’s expertise is crucial for drafting a bespoke cookie policy explicitly tailored to your business and its cookie practice. A solicitor will take your detailed instructions and accurately draft information about all cookies deployed, documenting each cookie’s purpose, duration, and whether it involves third-party data sharing. They will also help guide you on which questions to ask your technical team to help ensure the policy is correct, such as detailed technical information about specific types of cookies.
This factsheet sets out how your business can become GDPR compliant.
Working with a solicitor will help ensure your policy complies with the latest regulatory guidance and PECR rules and explains complex terminology in clear, concise language that users can understand. This clarity is critical for users’ understanding of their cookie consent rights, reducing the risk of legal problems due to unclear wording in your cookie policy.
Advising Your Business on Complex Cookie Law Rules
A solicitor’s role can provide invaluable advice on a range of issues in addition to drafting a compliant cookie policy. Their advice can help you navigate the complexities of PECR compliance with confidence.
For instance, a solicitor can guide you on the legal requirements for a PECR-compliant cookie consent mechanism. This may involve drafting a consent banner or pop-up that gives users clear choices about the cookies they accept. Cookie preferences and consent requirements around them can be an area of compliance which businesses need help with, for instance, regarding how to obtain valid consent from users.
Providing Ongoing Advice and Regular Reviews
Compliance with a PECR is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Businesses often need to revisit this as their websites and apps start to use cookies and user personal data in different ways.
A solicitor can monitor and update your cookie policy and practices occasionally, ensuring that they remain compliant with any changes in law or updated regulatory guidance.
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Key Takeaways
If your business deploys cookies, compliance with PECR is crucial. Solicitors play a vital role in guiding companies through the complexities of PECR. They provide essential support, including drafting bespoke cookie policies, advising on consent mechanisms, and providing ongoing compliance monitoring. Their expertise helps to ensure legal compliance and fosters user trust by facilitating clear communication about cookie practices. Working with a solicitor will help ensure that your business operates within mandatory legal boundaries while effectively leveraging the benefits of cookies.
If you need help with cookie law compliance, LegalVision’s experienced data, privacy, and IT lawyers can assist you as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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