6 Things You Need To Know For E-Privacy Directive Compliance

I posted my thoughts on the E-Privacy directive a few weeks ago. I thought I'd try to distill this further in to the 6 key rings you need to know, and do, in order to be on the right track with the E-Privacy Directive and compliance on 25 May 212.

Most people in the digital world are not a fan of this. Obviously. 82% of digital marketers think the EU cookie law is bad for the web. But that's like forresters in Brazil if chopping down trees is bad for the environment. I think there's 6 things that can help you meet the guidelines come 25 May.

1. Understand it. The Information Commissioners Office has set the guidelines we need to adhere to. Read them and understand them. They will need to be interpreted in your business and this can take time so do this know.

2. Know what your 'essential' and 'non-essential' cookies. It will mean the differences between asking for consent and not. Be transparent about what cookies you are asking content for.

3. Be Prominent. Paying lip service to E-Privacy won't work and the ICO will want to know what you are hiding and why.

4. Create a transparent Privacy Policy. Be explicit in saying what cookies you do use and what you don't use. Say clearly why you use them and the benefits for the visitor and you. Also make it clear how to remove cookies; many people won't have a clue how to do this.

5. Cover all customer journeys. Don't just put a pop up or accordion on your homepage. Visitors can, and will, enter your website from any page, be that a Google search or a bookmark they have made to one of your pages or services. You need a prominent message on every part of your customer journey.

6. Test the prominence of your message. User test the design ideally before you launch it. You can do this with paper wireframes and friends in the office. Once built, use your usability agency to help test or quick feedback use a free tool from someone like  Click Density (their product is great).