New cookie laws

by mikeydt1 May 26th 2012, 9:14 am

i have just come across an article where web sites must give consent regarding the use of cookies (i have provided a link about this.)

http://www.itv.com/news/2012-05-26/cookies-law-introduced-websites-must-seek-consent/

as a forum owner from the U.K how would this affect my forum plus others in U.K and Europe.

i am not up on this new law been introduce, also if it was to affect our forums how would it be implemented?

any help appreciated

mike

by LGforum May 26th 2012, 2:10 pm

Pretty much every single site out there that uses sessions store a cookie. It would be implausible for such a law.

Try using your forum without cookies. I bet you cant even log in.

All browsers have te ability to block certain sites storing cookies, so if a user doesn't want them storing cookies they can stop them.

by Darren1 May 27th 2012, 12:03 am

Hi,

ForuMotion already seeks your consent to use cookies, as part of the registration process.
You won't be affected at all. Wink

by Brooksy118 May 29th 2012, 11:57 pm

I've just been looking into this, as we're had to implement it on another forum that I moderate (a non Forumotion one). The following site is quite useful in explaining it - http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2012/03/eu-cookie-directive-what-why-who-when-and-how.html

But this bit in particular, which seems to state that even though a registration process may seek a users consent to use cookies, it's not enough now.... So with that in mind, is it something that we should be implementing on our Forumotion sites too? scratch

What is the EU cookie directive?

For those not already aware, the supposed aim of this legislation is to increase online security and data privacy, giving users more control over what data can be held about them. It addresses concerns with how personal information is held and used. Some users – albeit a small minority – are concerned with what they see as the development of a ‘Big Brother’ society in which their every move is being recorded.

The legislation forces websites to be transparent about how they are using cookies, detailing exactly what information each cookie holds and how long it will be held, and requires them actively to request permission from their users before cookies can be used.

Previously, the law dictated that websites had to explain how they were using cookies and how users can ‘opt out’. Most sites did so in their Privacy Policies, but this isn’t enough under the new law: users now have to ‘opt in’, having been made fully aware of the implications of doing so.

by Darren1 May 30th 2012, 12:19 am

The catch with this law is it's virtually un-enforceable. It's like the saying "What noise does a tree make as it falls if no-one around to hear it?"
There are so many sites that wont obey this law, a great example, Australian's wouldn't have heard of the law unless we were looking specifically for it, they have a French version of their English website. Whoops. Violated the law, goes to court, judge laughs and dismisses case.
ForuMotion does keep up with the law and is sometimes a bit behind. I'm sure they will implement this change when they have the correct way to do so, without damaging our forum, too much.
ForuMotion are required to do so, as they are French, so it will be coming, one day I assume.

You don't have to worry about a single thing, ForuMotion will look after it for you. If you are approached by a member of ICO, verify it, alert us here at this support forum, and modify the registration rules to alert users to the use of cookies for: Remembering timezone, reply editor preferences, remaining logged in. I believe these are the 3 main cookie uses.

by kirk May 30th 2012, 12:37 am

Yeah no brainier?
If something like this was to pass then i guess it would be messages on every website saying you have to allow cookies or you will not have access?

dunno?

I use FF in private mode anyway most of the time.

Firefox won't remember any history for this session.

In a Private Browsing session, Firefox won't keep any browser history, search history, download history, web form history, cookies, or temporary internet files. However, files you download and bookmarks you make will be kept.

by Darren1 May 30th 2012, 12:44 am

Kirk, it passed, and is enforceable from yesterday. It passed more then 1 year ago Razz

by kirk May 30th 2012, 12:54 am

oh did it, well i am not going to lose any sleep over it.. lol,
So not sure what to do with this thread, may be put it in discussions?
It's not a problem for forumotion like you said above so it's not really a other problem.

Dunno, We'll either move to discussions or will just trash it. Since it's not really no concern for forumotion sites, I dont think it necessary to be discussed here either? No ??? l dunno?

by Brooksy118 May 30th 2012, 12:54 am

Darren1 wrote:The catch with this law is it's virtually un-enforceable. It's like the saying "What noise does a tree make as it falls if no-one around to hear it?"
There are so many sites that wont obey this law, a great example, Australian's wouldn't have heard of the law unless we were looking specifically for it, they have a French version of their English website. Whoops. Violated the law, goes to court, judge laughs and dismisses case.
ForuMotion does keep up with the law and is sometimes a bit behind. I'm sure they will implement this change when they have the correct way to do so, without damaging our forum, too much.
ForuMotion are required to do so, as they are French, so it will be coming, one day I assume.

You don't have to worry about a single thing, ForuMotion will look after it for you. If you are approached by a member of ICO, verify it, alert us here at this support forum, and modify the registration rules to alert users to the use of cookies for: Remembering timezone, reply editor preferences, remaining logged in. I believe these are the 3 main cookie uses.

Thanks for that, that's good to hear that it's not something we really need to worry about at the moment, and if we do, Forumotion will hopefully have a way of resolving it.

Thanks for your help, again Very Happy

by Brooksy118 May 30th 2012, 12:56 am

kirk wrote:oh did it, well i am not going to lose any sleep over it.. lol,,
So not sure what to do with this thread, may be put it in discussions?
It's not a problem for forumotion like you said above so it's not really a other problem.

Dunno see what other staff wants to do with it, either move to discussions or will just trash it. Since it's not really no concern for forumotion sites dont think it needs to be discussed either? No ??? lol

Sorry, I wasn't too sure where to post it. Is it worth leaving it somewhere though, for anybody else that is looking for similar info? Smile

by kirk May 30th 2012, 1:00 am

Brooksy118 wrote:
kirk wrote:oh did it, well i am not going to lose any sleep over it.. lol,,
So not sure what to do with this thread, may be put it in discussions?
It's not a problem for forumotion like you said above so it's not really a other problem.

Dunno see what other staff wants to do with it, either move to discussions or will just trash it. Since it's not really no concern for forumotion sites dont think it needs to be discussed either? No ??? lol

Sorry, I wasn't too sure where to post it. Is it worth leaving it somewhere though, for anybody else that is looking for similar info?

Yeah i guess we can move it to discussions, I will leave it here for now for other staff to see and reply first if they like, Then sanket can have the final word or whether to remove it from discussions after we move it there Smile

by Brooksy118 May 30th 2012, 1:16 am

No problem, I don't mind either way Smile

by LGforum May 30th 2012, 3:20 am

For those not already aware, the supposed aim of this legislation is to increase online security and data privacy, giving users more control over what data can be held about them. It addresses concerns with how personal information is held and used. Some users – albeit a small minority – are concerned with what they see as the development of a ‘Big Brother’ society in which their every move is being recorded.

One could argue, that saving a cookie is not the storage of data in anyway. The cookie is saved on the users computer, not the sites server. As soon as the user leaves the site, that cookie is not accessible to the site. The site in no way can use that cookie without the user being on the site, so the information is not stored with sites owners.
Personally, I think this could be resolved by the browsers making it completely clear what cookies are, what they are generally used for and how they can be deleted or prevented. Then no sites have to do anything.

The most important cookies are those automatically set by the use of PHP sessions. This is the exact reason why you won't remain logged in on forumotion if you disallow cookies. No session cookie means no session, means phpbb does not know who you are. It could potentially be resolved by FM reapplying the session ID to the urls, but that wont happen as it opens up a number of potential security risks.

by **SLGray** May 30th 2012, 5:35 am

Brooksy118 wrote:
Darren1 wrote:The catch with this law is it's virtually un-enforceable. It's like the saying "What noise does a tree make as it falls if no-one around to hear it?"
There are so many sites that wont obey this law, a great example, Australian's wouldn't have heard of the law unless we were looking specifically for it, they have a French version of their English website. Whoops. Violated the law, goes to court, judge laughs and dismisses case.
ForuMotion does keep up with the law and is sometimes a bit behind. I'm sure they will implement this change when they have the correct way to do so, without damaging our forum, too much.
ForuMotion are required to do so, as they are French, so it will be coming, one day I assume.

You don't have to worry about a single thing, ForuMotion will look after it for you. If you are approached by a member of ICO, verify it, alert us here at this support forum, and modify the registration rules to alert users to the use of cookies for: Remembering timezone, reply editor preferences, remaining logged in. I believe these are the 3 main cookie uses.

Thanks for that, that's good to hear that it's not something we really need to worry about at the moment, and if we do, Forumotion will hopefully have a way of resolving it.

Thanks for your help, again

Brooksy118 wrote:
kirk wrote:oh did it, well i am not going to lose any sleep over it.. lol,,
So not sure what to do with this thread, may be put it in discussions?
It's not a problem for forumotion like you said above so it's not really a other problem.

Dunno see what other staff wants to do with it, either move to discussions or will just trash it. Since it's not really no concern for forumotion sites dont think it needs to be discussed either? No ??? lol

Sorry, I wasn't too sure where to post it. Is it worth leaving it somewhere though, for anybody else that is looking for similar info?

Please don't double/triple post. Your post need to be separated by 24 hours before bumping, replying or adding more information. Please use the edit button instead!