Thursday January 26, 2012 at 11:00am
If your website uses cookies or similar technology you need to comply with the new cookies rules introduced last year by 26th May 2012. This means that you need to tell users what cookies your site uses, explain what those cookies do and, unless certain very narrow exceptions apply (read Can you rely on exceptions to the cookie regs? ), obtain consent for any that are stored on the users’ computer, mobile phone or other web-enabled device. Previous blogs have dealt with the rules and ....
(read more...)Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 10:00am
The new regulations relating to cookies which came into force last year basically requires website owners not only to provide information about cookies they use and a mechanism to opt out, but to obtain consent from users of the site before a cookie is used. The only circumstances where this does not apply are very limited.
The only exception to the requirement to provide information and obtain consent is where the use of the cookie is:
for the sole purpose of carrying out the tran....
(read more...)Thursday January 12, 2012 at 9:00am
In my last blog (Website owners are warned by Information Commissioner) I mentioned that the ICO had issued updated guidance on compliance with the new cookies regulations introduced last year. This new version of the guidance is much more detailed than the original version and, along with the report from the Information Commissioner which I talked about previously, also warns that, if your website uses cookies or similar technology for storing information, you should not simply ignore the regul....
(read more...)Wednesday January 4, 2012 at 10:34am
Whilst most of us were preparing for the Christmas and New Year festivities, the Information Commissioner issued his half term report about the preparations for complying with the cookie regulations which came into force last year. Details of those new regulations were given in my blogs at the time - there are links to them below if you’d like a recap. Basically, if your website uses cookies you now not only need to give details, but you also need consent from visitors to the site for most....
(read more...)Sunday September 25, 2011 at 5:05pm
Working with a lot of IT companies and web developers I’ve realised over recent years how many leave themselves open to potential legal difficulties.
It goes without saying that most modern businesses rely heavily on their IT systems to run their business and on their websites for showcasing their products and services, if not also directly for sales. So, if your business provides IT or website development services, you are responsible for a critical component in your clients’ busi....
(read more...)Wednesday June 15, 2011 at 12:55pm
It has been a shock to many to receive a demand for compensation for unlawful reproduction of images, such as photographs and other artistic and design work. Usually this comes in the form of a written demand from a stock image house such as one of the world’s biggest agencies Getty Images, who actively pursue such claims.
So what is the law? And how do you protect yourself from such demands?
With the explosion of social network sites on the web has come a corresponding explosion in th....
(read more...)Wednesday June 1, 2011 at 4:50pm
I talked in an earlier blog (New rules on the use of cookies) about the new rules affecting website owners which came into force on 26th May 2011. Since writing the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has provided a little more clarity about how the new rules will be policed. The good news is that organisations and businesses which run websites aimed at UK consumers will be given up to 12 months to get their house in order before enforcement of the new EU cookies law begins. As a brief....
(read more...)Wednesday May 25, 2011 at 4:13pm
Details about new rules on the use of cookies by website operators have recently been published. There’s not much time to get to grips with them as they come into force on 26th May 2011. Initial guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued only last week provides a few pointers on how we can expect the rules to be interpreted. The main effect of the new rules is that if you are a website owner you will need consent from a user of your site to store a cookie on the....
(read more...)Thursday April 21, 2011 at 3:21pm
If you run an e-commerce business and sell goods online new EU rules could have a significant impact. The rules in question would be under a planned EU Consumer Rights Directive which concerns contracts for the sale of goods by businesses to consumers (B2C). The draft Directive is not a new proposal – it was issued in 2008. Since then it has been going through various discussion and consultation processes, but recently it moved a step closer when endorsed by the European Parliament which a....
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