3s-gtech Posted May 15, 2012 Posted May 15, 2012 Urrghg, the alternative is a php based landing page with a simple "Click I agree to continue", which sets a cookie. If this cookie isn't present, users are redirected to the landing page from any other page (such as by altering your Joomla header before session cookies are set). That would be utterly horrendous though.
InterwebsGuy Posted May 15, 2012 Posted May 15, 2012 Urrghg, the alternative is a php based landing page with a simple "Click I agree to continue", which sets a cookie. If this cookie isn't present, users are redirected to the landing page from any other page (such as by altering your Joomla header before session cookies are set). That would be utterly horrendous though. I totally agree, no matter what way it is implemented it's ugly. A server side solution may only be the reliable way to comply though. And you have to hope they have allowed their browser to set Cookies. There are so many caveats to implementing this requirement it's mad. It's clearly something that has been dreamt up without much technical insight.
chrbb Posted May 15, 2012 Posted May 15, 2012 Just looking at our moodle, the only cookies are the standard session and moodleid. Is it sufficient to put a sort of disclaimer on the site explaining what the cookies do?
Meldrew Posted May 16, 2012 Posted May 16, 2012 PC Pro had this article which I think is quite sensible. The Cookie law: clarity at last (but not from the ICO) | PC Pro blog 1
InterwebsGuy Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Just looking at our moodle, the only cookies are the standard session and moodleid. Is it sufficient to put a sort of disclaimer on the site explaining what the cookies do? Those are okay. Session Cookies and Cookies that are crucial to the operation of the site are allowed without consent.
InterwebsGuy Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Has anyone tried cPrompt? Looks pretty good to me. Should work well enough if JS is disabled too, as it shouldn't execute anything within the IF statements. I will have a play with this later.
Gatt Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Has anyone tried cPrompt? Looks good - it's getting it to work with the likes of WordPress in a way that doesn't screw up the entire site...
beeswax Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Looks pretty good to me. Should work well enough if JS is disabled too, as it shouldn't execute anything within the IF statements. I will have a play with this later. I'm trying to configure this to work with a Joomla site, but not being a programmer I'm struggling. I would greatly appreciate any help and/or advice offered.
elsiegee40 Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 BBC News - Cookies: Majority of government sites to miss deadline Well that's all right then!
mpe Posted May 21, 2012 Posted May 21, 2012 Personally, I am of the opinion it's the likes of Google and the other big boys that actually track you across multiple web sites when using Analytic's, Social Plugins or whatever that need to play ball. Just because you choose to have a Facebook Likey button on your pages doesn't mean they have the right to track your visitors browsing habits. As I have said previously, these are the guys that need to set-up a section on their websites that allow you to opt out of all Google Ad/Analytical (..) tracking, and as a result, your wishes should be then applied to millions of other websites. Given where these companies are based they are likely to just ignore this. About the only thing likely to make them take any notice would be European arrest warrants for their directors together with any assets within the EU being seized. Very little chance of that happening. If it did then the most "Euro friendly" British Government possible would probably be too concerned about upsetting Washington.
Jamman960 Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 I've just added a cookie policy to the bottom of the Drupal template page, I expect they'll issue warnings before going ahead with fines either way.
gshaw Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 According to the ICC document I've just read it seems we'll be OK with a cookies policy as ours fall into either category 1 (functional cookies i.e. site won't work without them for Moodle) or category 2 (Google Analytics)
Marci Posted May 24, 2012 Posted May 24, 2012 There isn't really a dropin solution where you can simply add code to each page of your site to resolve cookie compliance. Those using CookieControl with Wordpress for instance - you NEED to know PHP / Javascript so that you can modify functions in the code throughout your site (inc any plugins used) so that those cookies are only created on the correct callback. CookieControl provides the framework to do this - the popup, and the necessary callback functions based on the user's response. You then have to trigger the functions that set cookies from within the cookiecontrol callbacks. In the case of moodle installations - one presumes it's staff, students and parents who can actually log in to it, not members of the public. Cookies are only created once logged in. Just amend the login page of your moodle install to state that by logging in to this system you accept the necessity for cookies to be placed, and if folks don't agree, don't log in. You can't accidentally land on a Moodle page and have cookies created.
sdc Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 Anyone know how the BBC has implemented their cookie 'warning'? It's a great idea - a subtle banner, that's actually part of the webpage (I think) that only shows once - and only allows you to 'Continue' or 'Find out more'. No option to say no, but it does give you the opportunity to 'change your cookie settings'. This looks like an elegant solution to me; if only we could figure out how it was done....!
JJonas Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 It's a great idea - a subtle banner, that's actually part of the webpage (I think) that only shows once It probably set a cookie for that
InterwebsGuy Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) Anyone know how the BBC has implemented their cookie 'warning'? It's a great idea - a subtle banner, that's actually part of the webpage (I think) that only shows once - and only allows you to 'Continue' or 'Find out more'. No option to say no, but it does give you the opportunity to 'change your cookie settings'. This looks like an elegant solution to me; if only we could figure out how it was done....! It won't be rocket science and won't work much differently to any of these CMS plug-ins that have been linked above. It will be mealy a little JavaScript to trigger some layers and styling with the message at the top. If the user opts out (or whatever) a Cookie will be set with their preference. The JS will check for the presence of this Cookie on each request and act as required. If there is no Cookie, the consent pop up will appear. As Marci alludes to above, the JavaScript will carry out further action, by including if consent has been granted, any code that is likely to set tracking Cookies - such as Analytics's, Ads, Social Sharing etc. I haven't had a good nosey at their solution, but all these things are likely to work the same. If you know what sets a Cookie that needs consent on your website, these things are quite easy to implement. You will probably need some understanding of JavaScript to implement these checks/plug-ins, however. Edited May 25, 2012 by InterwebsGuy Apostrophes in the wrong place! 1
InterwebsGuy Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 It probably set a cookie for that No doubt about it - there is no other way it can really track your consent preference. It will be tricky to store it in a database as it will be difficult to identify you and your device again - though seemingly not impossible!
JJonas Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 Just found Ghostery which is handy for showing up trackers Ghostery 1
InterwebsGuy Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 Just found Ghostery which is handy for showing up trackers Ghostery That is pretty nifty - confirms what I already knew about our sites and apps. Edugeek sets a shocking amount though!!
Marci Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 No doubt about it - there is no other way it can really track your consent preference. It will be tricky to store it in a database as it will be difficult to identify you and your device again - though seemingly not impossible! The way most are operating is that refused consent is stored in a (perfectly acceptable) session cookie, so on your next session you'll get re-prompted. If you give consent then that this is stored as a persistent cookie seeing as you've given consent for that to be the case, and it should remember (on that device) your decision on return visits. Looking at the BBC's site as an example, it's a bit vague. It states "If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the BBC website" and then shows a "continue" button. Their statement however implies that by continuing to browse their site gives them permission whether one clicks the "continue" button or not (and this is confirmed by not clicking "continue" and following any link on their site - a full range of cookies are set, one with an expiry date 4 years & 6 months away!). So what they're saying is, if you don't want cookies, set it in your browser's options or don't use our site. Now, if you DO click the "continue" button, the banner vanishes, cookies are set and one can browse away and nothing more is said on the matter. BUT, if instead you don't click "continue" and click on the "change your cookie settings" link, you're prompted on whether you wish specific categories of cookies to be enabled or disabled (functionality, performance, & behavioural advertising). Problem: If you clicked "continue", all these are enabled, and 95% of users won't be aware that they can turn off (for instance) behavioural advertising tracking if they so wish. The link to get to this page isn't presented anywhere that's easily locatable, other than in that original banner & if you clicked "continue" then you're not giong to see it again. Let's assume you clicked "continue" and then wanted to find this page... you'd logically go to the "cookies" link across the bottom, yet no "Managing Cookies" option is presented on the proceeding page. One has to go to "Cookie Information" before you get to the "Managing Cookies" option - a few too many steps I think. So yes, the BBC's banner LOOKS great and seamlessly fits into their site design / layout, but in terms of their solution's functionality it leaves a lot to be desired and still attempts to veil their cookie setting habits imo. The law is supposed to change the way sites work from operating on an opt-out basis to an opt-in basis, and the BBC's solution still appears to be an opt-out system with the only way to opt out being to delve into your browser's settings or not use their site. Completely the opposite of what the law was aiming to avoid. 1
skunk Posted May 25, 2012 Posted May 25, 2012 Personally, all this talk of cookies is making me hungry and my gut will testify that I always opt in!
Marci Posted May 29, 2012 Posted May 29, 2012 MASSIVE U-Turn from the ICO at eleventh hour... 'implied consent' (ie: opt-out) now valid. Wasn't originally, but is now... Cookies law changed at 11th hour to introduce 'implied consent' | Technology | guardian.co.uk
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