Scalar Enterprises Blog
This page contains news about Scalar Enterprises, work we have been doing for our clients, new features and services etc. From time to time I will also include useful information and articles from myself and from various other sources along with comments, tips and thoughts from myself. Hope you find it useful and why not let me know if you have a question.
Cookie compliance … or are you just ignoring it ?
Well the deadline for compliance with the new EU Cookie Law on the 26th of May 2012 has come and gone and a further survey since by KPMG suggests that around 80% of UK websites they surveyed are pretty much ignoring it. Their earlier survey of the same 55 larger UK companies before the deadline indicated that 95% were not compliant.
Other reports in the media this week suggest that because of the last minute change of advice from the ICO, which now recommends that implied consent is acceptable after all, means that many businesses who had taken steps to comply have spent a lot of money on solutions that exceed what is required. In the light of this, it seems that a strategy of “wait and see for a while” adopted by the majority was probably a good one.
General advice now seems to be to at least update your privacy policy to demonstrate you are taking steps towards complying. As a next stage, adopt an implied consent model on your site. For most small sites who are probably only using 1st party cookies for analytics, this should be sufficient to comply. If your site depends heavily on particularly invasive, 3rd party cookies you probably need to do more.
Many have been waiting to see if the browser manufacturers would do anything to make things easier to comply. The FT reported this week that Microsoft apparently stated that they would be introducing a “do not track” option set as the default setting in their next release of the Internet Explorer (IE) browser.
If this was limited to 3rd party cookies, it would have a big impact on on-line advertising. The advertising industry has not responded well to this since it would mean many advertising functions would not work any more unless the site visitor specifically enabled the use of cookies. If it applied to all cookies, it would have a big impact on many website functions and analytics as well. This approach would appear to be a step in the wrong direction and could well be another nail in the coffin for IE who are already losing quite a share of the browser market.
So, if everyone ignores it, will it go away ?
This article is not a statement of the law and does not constitute legal advice. Website owners / operators are responsible for their own compliance strategies, depending on the cookies they use and the nature of the website. The author does not endorse any particular method for gaining website users’ consent.
A last minute change by the ICO on Cookie law
Having reached the deadline today (24th May) for making websites compliant with the new EU Cookie Laws, it is expected that thousands of UK websites will not meet the new regulations.
A last minute change in the ICO guidelines, released on Friday (23rd May), now permits websites to use “implied consent” which allows the act of continued use of a site to be taken to mean users are happy for cookies to be used. This change puts the onus onto the user rather than the website.
This makes solutions a little easier to implement and appears to be an approach generally taken by some larger, prominent web sites (e.g. BBC, national newspapers) who are making steps towards compliance.
The ICO has said it will write to 50 of the U.K.’s most-trafficked websites to remind them of the rules and give them 28 days to comply hence one presumes that this is why such sites are making this effort to comply because such large sites with high traffic would be the most likely targets for the ICO to make examples of.
It would however seem to be very difficult to think that any direct action could be taken on any sites when the vast majority of Government web sites (including that of the Prime Minister apparently) still do not comply.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said in a recent statement it would offer help to non-compliant sites rather than take legal action against them. They also said that May 27th is not a cut-off date but an attempt to help websites focus on their cookie use so it seems clear that this will be ongoing for some time.
More Cookie news
As expected, there continues to be quite a lot of press on this topic as we get nearer to the final deadline for compliance on the 26th of May.
In an interview with Computer World UK magazine last week, a spokesman from the ICO said that it may give organisations with complex website environments years to comply with new EU cookie laws.
They also indicated that the ICO will pay more attention to websites using what they refer to as ‘intrusive cookies’ used for tracking to generate revenues for advertising based on a users’ prior online behaviour rather than cookies used just for simple analytics.
Deputy Commissioner Smith stated that the ICO is also unlikely to use its ability to fine companies up to £500,000 as it believes a breach of the cookie law is unlikely to meet the requirements it would need to issue such a fine. It is more likely that it will write to companies that aren’t taking steps to comply with the new regulation, providing timeframes to do so.
FT.com and Mirror Online, both rolled out Cookie Law solutions today (23-5-12) and are both using pop-ups to alert visitors to the sites’ use of cookies.
Both are in line with the ICO’s advice given in its guidance document where they suggest setting a cookie and then infer consent from the fact that the user has seen a clear notice and actively indicated that they are comfortable with cookies by clicking through and continuing to use the site.
Sources: computerworlduk.com News 18-5-12 , econsultancy.com 23-5-12
New EU Cookie Law from 26th May – is your website legal ?
From 26th May 2012, new law states that all websites in the UK should ask all site visitors in advance for permission before storing “Cookies” on their PC. Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to a maximum of £500,000 for serious breaches.
The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office), who are responsible for enforcing the law in the UK, have said they will take a dim view of organisations that fail to act before the deadline. ” Those who choose to do nothing will have their lack of action taken into account when we begin formal enforcement of the rules.” - Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham
The law also requires that you tell your visitors to your website about your use of cookies or other tracking technologies, and how they can delete or control them. Continue reading
Seems like it is video week …
Isn’t it strange sometimes how things seem to come along together. I often get requests from clients to embed video into their websites but I haven’t had that many lately. This week, I have embedded 7 videos in the last 2 days and also spent some time looking at some new software for producing more videos.
One set of videos were for a business strategy consultant’s training course which had restricted access, required a specific player to be utilised and had to operate on some specific mobile platforms as well so the task posed a few challenges but all up and running now.
Other videos were for another of my clients who are a local window blinds company. One was a new promotional video advertising their broad range of products and services and the others were adding more information to their websites relating to the very important “Make it safe” campaign. ”Make it safe” is the British Blind Safety Association (BBSA) child safety campaign for the safe supply, installation and use of window blinds which have a continuous loop cord or chain.
Hayward & Partners – Training for the Automotive Industry
We have just completed a fairly fast turnaround of a new website for Hayward & Partners who specialise in Training for the Automotive Industry across the UK.
The client came to us with a completed graphic design and after some discussions and minor modifications to make it work better as a marketing tool, we coded it up into a website for them and it is now live.
Take a look at www.haywardpartners.co.uk
”We are extremely pleased with our new website and have received some very positive feedback from our clients. Steve was very easy to communicate with throughout the whole process and understood our requirements. He was very efficient and reliable and delivered on time and within budget. Steve has been very patient with us during our many changes and adjustments. We would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Scalar Enterprises to anyone.”
Geoff Osborne, Hayward & Partners
Losing weight with HypnoSlimmer Hampshire
If you have tried lots of different diets to try and lose those extra pounds and failed, this could be the answer for you. HypnoSlimmer Hampshire’s new website is now live so why not pop along and take a look at www.hypnoslimmerhampshire.co.uk
We worked closely with Graham at HypnoSlimmer Hampshire to produce the exact look and functionality that he wanted for his new website.
” Thanks for the work you have done on my new website, it looks great ! ”
Graham Parish
Luxury extensions for your home
We have been working hard with our client, Metro Basements in London over the last couple of months to define their requirements and design and build a very minimalist website design around their logo and content. The design also had to co-ordinate with another website they have for their sister business, City Interiors.
The work they do is absolutely fantastic, turning unused basements into works of art or if you don’t have a basement, they can even add one (or two in one of their recent projects).
The basement kitchen at one of their recently completed projects in Chelsea, London was featured in the Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom magazine and they were also recently chosen as the Wall Street Journal “Europe House of the day”.
The site has just gone live so you can take a look at www.metrobasements.com
Nothing But Mediation website goes live
We have been working with our client, Nothing But Mediation and their graphic designers (designpod-studio) to develop their new website and are pleased to say it has now gone live.
Nothing But Mediation are based in Petersfield in Hampshire and provide a range of mediation services in and around the area.
For more information, visit the Nothing But Mediation website
Have you been hacked recently ?
Some time ago I published a news article on this blog about how insecure many people’s passwords were found to be, after reading a number of articles on the subject, in an attempt to highlight the importance of the issue to my clients and other blog visitors.
It amazed me to hear at the time that regardless of all the warnings you see, so many people were still using passwords like “123456″ or even “password” which can literally be cracked in a few seconds !
This weekend, I read another article in a trade journal where they had again looked at this topic and low and behold, it seems that the situation has changed very little !
I have heard reports from a number of my clients and other people over the last few months alone that they have had accounts hacked (I believe that they were mostly hotmail accounts) and spam was subsequently sent from them. In each case, the problem was identified quite quickly and rectified so they did not become major problems but at least one resulted in the hotmail account being suspended until it was fixed.
The article I read today mentioned a useful website where you can check how secure your passwords are and it tells you how quickly they can be cracked so it is quite an eye opener. Give it a try at http://howsecureismypassword.net – I’m sure you will be shocked !
Image:123RF Stock Photo
Related articles: “Are your passwords strong enough ?“
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