As you should be aware, on 26th May 2011, the EU Cookie Directive is set to come into effect.
As part of the IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council, LinkShare has been involved in discussion around these changes for the past 18 months.
Earlier this month the ICO released their ‘starting point’ advice for the impending changes to the rules on using cookies and similar technologies for storing information. The full report can be found here.
The ICO will be issuing separate guidance on how they intend to enforce these regulations. According to their ‘starting point’ advice “The Government’s view is that there should be a phased approach to the implementation of these changes”, meaning that there will not be an immediate crackdown on 26th May.
The Legislation Committee of the Affiliate Marketing Council has met to review this update and has supplied an interim response to the announcement and will present the full results of their discussions at the AMC meeting on Thursday 26th May.
I would recommend reading both of these documents to gain an understanding of how the changes are likely to affect affiliate marketing and to be prepared for the impending changes required.
The ICO advises websites to take the following steps:
- Check what type of cookies or similar technologies you use and how you use them
- Assess how intrusive your use of cookies is
- Decide what solution to obtain consent will be best in your circumstances
Penny Mather, Marketing Manager
