Does your website need a cookie banner?
The answer to this question is probably “yes”, but let us start from the beginning.
The magic word “consent”
Ever since the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect in 2018 cookie banners have been popping up from almost every website we visit. These banners serve two purposes. First, they should let the visitors know that the website uses cookies. Second, they ask consent from the website visitors.
Different kind of cookies
There are cookies and then there are web cookies. They are small text files that are being used by websites to, among other functions, collect data from visitors. Cookies are being saved on your device and they contain information about your browsing on the website.
Use of cookies
The main purpose of cookies is to optimize your browsing experience and remember your preferences, such as login information, selected language, or country… Their purpose is also to provide information to the owners of the website. This way the owner of the website can analyze the data and make the website user-friendlier and show users personalized content.
And we are back to the initial question: Does your website need a cookie banner?
If your website uses cookies and your website is visited by people from the EU, then you need it.
In order to comply with the regulations regarding cookies you need to:
- get users’ consent before you use any cookies other than strictly necessary ones
- explain what data cookies track and why
- store users’ consent
- allow users to access the website even if they don’t accept the use of cookies
- allow users to withdraw their consent
There are several tools that you can use to scan your website for GDPR compliance and check if you are on the safe side. The best would be to seek legal advice and get a professional piece of mind.
Also, we just released an OpenSource package to add a cookie banner to your Laravel application. https://github.com/42coders/eu-cookie-consent
