Google has admitted that it is struggling to cope with the new cookie laws – which came into force on May 26 but with 12 months’ grace – due to the huge number of its products that are affected.
Speaking at an event hosted by law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, the company’s public policy manager Anthony House conceded its work on compliance is “in progress” but is taking far longer than the firm had hoped.
The new law requires website owners using cookies to get explicit consent from visitors to install and run cookies on their services.
House said:”One of the things that has made us move more slowly than we would like is that we have to cover it from all the angles. We have a popular destination site, an ad network, a browser and an analytics solution that’s almost a mini-microcosm of the Internet, so it’s taking a little bit of time.”
House added that, despite the difficulties, compliance is crucial as the technology forms such a vital part of Google’s systems. “The things that cookies do are necessary to the web working, and we’ve always tried to be very forthright with customers and publishers about what those cookies are for,” he said.
Meanwhile, data watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office urged all firms not already working on the necessary systems to begin immediately, as there are only six months left to comply.
ICO group manager for business and industry David Evans said: “The [cookie law] is a chance to be open with users and let them make informed choices, and we are seeing some really good practice from people out there, but if you’re not on that journey you need to start getting there now,” he said. “If you say we are doing nothing, we can point to a lot of others and say why aren’t you doing that?”
Evans said that the ICO will release updated guidance on how businesses can achieve this in the coming days, and that one key aspect is how to make privacy policies more visible.
“We’ll get criticised for this, saying it’s too simplistic or that marketing teams won’t like it [by ruining the aesthetics of site], but the law is about making information attractive to users to help inform users.”
