Wednesday, January 31, 2018

The European Union Cookie Catch-22

For at least two and a half years now, my every visit to the blogger control panel is greeted with this ominous message (bold added):
European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies.

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.
If I click the link to learn more, I get an even more stern warning:
If you have edited your blog in a way that hides this notice, it will be your responsibility to notify your visitors about cookies used on your blog and if necessary, obtain consent. Also, if you have added other blog features that set cookies, including third-party analytics or advertising services, you’ll need to provide additional or a different notice.

It is your responsibility to determine, based on your cookie use, what else would be appropriate. If you choose to use a different notice, be sure you still comply with Google’s EU user consent policy. Learn more on generating cookie notices.
Then there is this parting fine print:
To see the notice if you’re outside of the EU, view your blog and change the country code, for example blogspot.fr or blogspot.co.uk. If you use a custom domain, you won't see the notice outside of the EU.
Since leftbankofthecharles.com is a custom domain, that means I would have to travel to the European Union in order to determine if the cookie notice is appearing correctly.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Does this include oatmeal raisin cookies consumed while blogging or reading said blog?