Does your website use cookies?
Probably! You can quickly and easily determine what cookies any website (including yours!) may use by following these easy steps (Note – we recommend that you browse the site in private mode for this as it will avoid the loading of cookies from other websites. Also, make sure you have turned off the blocking of cookies from the browser):
Correctly managing your website’s cookies is an incredibly important part of compliance. To see what cookies your website (and other sites) are collecting, follow the steps below based on the browser you’re using. If you’re collecting cookies, chances are you’ll need to be compliant with GDPR and/or CCPA! For more information about cookies and their collection, keep reading!
Clym can help you manage your cookies and making sure your website stays compliant with CCPA, GDPR and other online privacy regulations.
Schedule a 1:1 Demo and let our experts show you how to make your website compliant.
Google Chrome: Check the cookies and the domains they are sending data to:
Start browsing using a new Private window and navigate to the URL of your website. Open the Developer Tools. Depending on your browser this can be done in different ways. For Google Chrome go to View > Developer > Developer Tools or CMD + ALT + I on Mac or F12 on Windows.
Now open the Application tab and check the cookies for each domain. Usually the cookies have names that resemble the name of the service they are being used by. You can also Google search the cookie names to find specific information about them.
Mozilla Firefox: Check the cookies and the domains they are sending data to:
Start browsing using a new Private window and navigate to the URL of your website. Open the Developer Tools. In Firefox, go to Tools > Web Developer > Storage Inspector or CMD + ALT + I on Mac or F12 on Windows.
Now open the Application tab and check the cookies for each domain. Usually the cookies have names that resemble the name of the service they are being used by. You can also Google search the cookie names to find specific information about them.
Safari: Check the cookies and the domains they are sending data to:
Start browsing using a new Private window and navigate to the URL of your website. Open the Developer Tools. In Safari, go to Develop > Show Web Inspector or CMD + ALT + I on Mac or F12 on Windows.
Now open the Application tab and check the cookies for each domain. Usually the cookies have names that resemble the name of the service they are being used by. You can also Google search the cookie names to find specific information about them.
Use an extension to identify services
You can use a browser extension like Ghostery to find out what trackers are loaded by your website. This is a good starting point to match your cookies to services.
*** Make sure you have disabled any adblocking plugins, so the results are complete ***
Once you’ve identified the cookies you can move your third party scripts to Clym so they will only be injected after the user’s explicit consent.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are files which are stored on your computer, smartphone, tablet or other device when you browse the Internet. They are designed to hold data specific to a particular user and website, and can be accessed either by a web server or the user’s computer or device. This allows a website to deliver a page specifically tailored to a particular user (which is why you get all those targeted ads!), or the page itself can contain some script which is aware of the data in the cookie and so is able to carry information from one visit to the website (or related site) to the next. Cookies have become HUGE business as data collection and sharing drive significant revenues to companies.
Recent legislation such as GDPR and CCPA aim to regulate what organizations can and can’t do with cookies and by extension, your data.
What information should a compliant cookie policy contain?
To be compliant with privacy and cookies laws, your Cookies Policy or cookies clause should:
1) state that you use cookies on your website and explain briefly what cookies are,
2) disclose what types of cookies you (or any third parties) are using,
3) inform users why you use cookies
4) let users know how they can opt out of having cookies placed on their devices.
Clym offers its clients compliant cookie policy templates as part of the subscription which are kept up to date with GDPR and CCPA.
Is a cookie policy a legal requirement?
Yes, cookie policies are required to maintain compliance with both GDPR and CCPA.
What is a cookie policy?
A cookie policy is a statement that you provide to your website users regarding what cookies are active on your website, what user data they track, for what purpose, and where in the world this data is sent. A cookie policy should also contain information regarding how your users may opt out of the cookies or change their settings relating to the cookies on your website.
