What is a cookie consent? Do they affect user experience?
In this article, our objective is to get an answer these two questions: What is a cookie consent? Does it affect user experience? To start with, we should know what a cookie is. Cookies, not those you eat with your milk, are messages that different web servers pass to your web browser. This happens when you visit different and various sites on the internet. Your browser then stores each message in a small file called cookie.txt. Eventually, when you request another page from the server, your browser will then send the cookie back to the server. These cookies provide and give away for websites to know and recognize you, your choices, and keep track of your preferences.
What is a cookie consent
Cookie Consent is known to be one of the easiest, simplest and most popular cookie notification plugins developed. One of the many well-known aspects of the Cookie Consent plugin is its simple usage and ease of use. What you should basically do is just simply install and activate the plugin. This will then automatically add the cookie consent notification bar in your browser. With that, we will no longer need configuration settings. Upon activation of the plugin, it creates a page on your site with important and useful information on your cookie policy. It will then automatically link to the page from the notifications bar. Simply, if you are on the default plugin settings, it will only take a matter of seconds for it to start up and get running.
What is a cookie consent? Do they affect user experience?
There are many different ways on how cookies of first and/or third party provenance can track website users. A good example is the IP address or merely the actions and choices of users not exclusively on the site, but also differ from site to site. Since the GDPR comes with a broad definition of personal data, if you happen to use cookies, you will need to ask consent from your existing and future users. You certainly need to ask for consent before setting up any cookies other than the necessary ones. Cookies that can track direct personal data or data that can be a potential way to connect or single out an identification to track a person, must be totally taken away. An appropriate update, in accordance with the regulations, should be applied to the cookie policy and cookie consent. Many notable modern websites have hundreds of useful and active cookies and online tracking in use.
What is GDPR?
The GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation, is a known ePrivacy regulation.
These are the six data protection principles contained in the GDPR:
⦁ Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
⦁ To purpose limitations
⦁ Works in data minimization
⦁ Provide accuracy
⦁ Meet storage limitations
⦁ Integrity and confidentiality
In order to process useful user data, you are required to follow a ‘lawful basis’
The GDPR sets out six lawful bases for processing personal data:
1. Consent – the individual should be able to provide clear and straightforward consent for you to make use. In that way, you can process their personal data for a specific purpose.
2. Contract – the processing is necessary for a contract that you have with the individual. Taking careful and specific steps before entering into a contract is important and necessary.
3. Legal obligation – the processing, of course, is necessary and important for you to comply with the law.
4. Vital interests – accurate processing is essential to protect someone’s life and privacy.
5. Public task – the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest. It is also important for your official functions, and the task or function should have a clear basis in law.
6. Legitimate interests – viable legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party is another important reason for processing, excepting that there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data and privacy which will nullify those legitimate interests.
Cookie Consent Models
Information Only
This model or type just basically informs the user that cookies are active and in use in the site. The users’ only choice is to either accept the cookies or just navigate away.
Implied Consent
The difference of the Implied Consent from Information Only model is that the site provides the ability to choose whether to directly opt-out or refuse cookies in the site, even though they are set by default in the first place.
Soft Opt-In
The Soft opt-in may tend to look a lot like Information Only. However, the significant difference is that cookies are blocked or may not appear on the first arrival to the site or the landing page. They will consider any further user interaction in the site, such as clicking on a link, mostly to a second page. This may then work as consent, and normally set cookies on the second page.
Explicit Consent
With this model or type, you may have to block the cookies until users perform a specific or required action that will signal to their acceptance of cookies. The action should only be specific to signify that acceptance. Basically, this means they have to tick or choose a box or click a button or a link that says ‘I accept cookies’ or anything similar.
Mixed Consent
As the description and name suggest, this one is a hybrid or mixed type approach. They basically just apply different models to different types of cookies based on their use and according to their purpose. A good example would be using an Implied Consent for web analytics and another Soft Opt-in for any third-party advertising.
More about cookies
Cookies Are Beneficial
We commonly use cookies to “maintain the state” of an internet or browser session. A great example is that during online shopping, users can place items in their online shopping cart, switch to another page or even another site, and not lose those items. It is because when the user comes back, the site will be able to safely recognize them and their items on the cart. These cookies contain a range of addresses or URLs for which they are valid. If the Web browser or other HTTP application sends a request to a Web server with those familiar and same URLs, it then sends the related cookies along. One example, if your user ID and password are stored in a cookie, it saves you time and effort from typing in the same information once again when accessing that service during another time. By retaining and saving useful user history, cookies allow the website to adjust the pages fittingly and create a custom experience for each user.
Your Cookies Recognize You
There may be a bit of personal data that are stored in the cookie files in your computer. For this reason, this storehouse or folder of private and personal information may become an object of attack
Personal Cookies – First Party
Typically, the “first-party” cookies, but not “third-party” cookies are allowed according to the default settings of your Web browser. The websites you visit create first-party cookies. They keep track of your personal preferences and the current session as mentioned above.
Third-Party Tracking Cookies
Websites tend to create third-party cookies other than those that you are currently visiting. An example is a third-party advertiser on that same site. The purpose of these cookies is usually and basically just to track your surfing habits and practices. This may be a reason why third-party cookies are considered an invasion of privacy. This is also considered to be riskier compared to cookies that are of first-party.
Configuration Settings
Your Web browser can be configured and set so that only first-party cookies that come from the originating sites are maintained. You can set the configuration settings in order to prevent those cookies from being kept and stored in your computer. However, that strictly limits the Web surfing experience. To configure settings, search and look for the cookie options in your browser in the Preferences or Options menu.
Conclusion
Cookies and cookie consent are there for a reason. They do not just pop-up and hang in there to bother you or keep track of your data. If you are eager to learn and know more about a cookie consent, we assure you they are easy to decipher and understand as well.
