Expertise: cookies

Functionality that really takes the biscuit

How do I handle cookies on my website?

According to the Dutch Telecommunications Act you can only store or readout cookies with a visitor’s prior consent. You’re also obliged to inform visitors about what cookies you’re using and why. However, this doesn’t apply to some cookies, like ones used to keep track of a shopping cart’s contents. If you’d like to know more, it’s probably easiest to ask us for a detailed explanation (over coffee and some real cookies).

Jeroen Koëter

How do I obtain prior consent?

By asking a website visitor to take clear, affirmative action that indicates that he or she agrees to accept cookies. The best way to do this is with a banner or modal pop-up window that offers the visitor a choice between certain categories of cookies. If you need help defining these categories, you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s a wide variety of customizable texts and user-friendly options available, with or without using consent management platforms.

Whichever solution you pick, make sure you don’t implement a ‘take it or leave it’ policy that forces a visitor to accept all cookies before he or she can proceed access the website. In this situation the visitor isn’t offered a genuine choice, their consent cannot be considered “freely given” and therefore becomes invalid.

If you would like help developing a cookie consent mechanism that complies with the law without affecting your conversion rates, then please send us an email. We’ll be happy to help!

Eva Visser

Can we use Google Analytics without visitor consent?

Yes, with strict boundaries. First, you have to enter a data processing agreement with Google. To protect user privacy, you have to partly obscure the IP addresses of your visitors, encrypt data in transit, turn off Google data sharing and inform visitors about the use of Google Analytics.

Eva Visser