The cookie text is also not the same thing as a cookie policy<\/em><\/a> text or cookie policy message<\/em>, which are terms for policy statements about the overall strategy and position of a company regarding the privacy of its users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here's an example of a good and informative cookie notice text (on a GDPR-compliant banner):<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cookie consent banner<\/a> is a familiar sight on many websites today, since the GDPR came into force in Europe and many other data privacy laws have been enacted around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are many ways that websites choose to declare their cookies and tracking. There are many different cookie messages on websites, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cookies agreement message targeted at the EU for GDPR compliance should not only state that your website uses cookies and be accompanied only by an \u201cokay\u201d or \u201caccept\u201d button. That does not enable valid consent, as users do not have equal access to an option to decline cookie usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many cookie messages (in fact many cookie banners as a whole) are still noncompliant with the GDPR or other laws because they leave no real choice of consent for the user and explain poorly how their personal data is collected by the website and used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Data Protection Board (EDPB)<\/a> is the leading authority on the GDPR in the EU, and its main job consists of adopting guidelines and making decisions on how the GDPR is to be interpreted and enforced by the national data protection authorities in each EU country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EDPB guidelines<\/a> clarify that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GDPR mandates that all websites that collect personal data from EU-based visitors have to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cclear and unambiguous prior consent<\/strong>\u201d is part of users\u2019 option to opt-in or opt-out of the different cookie categories (preferences, statistics, marketing) at a granular level. Specifying all types of cookies<\/strong> is done in the cookie declaration and depository, which is the comprehensive overview of all known cookies and their purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GDPR<\/a> also mandates that your website must inform<\/strong> its users in easy to understand ways<\/strong> and thus enable users to consent and to revoke consent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where the cookies text<\/strong> or cookies message<\/strong> comes in. It is the point at which you must provide specific information about tracking cookies<\/a> on your website and its purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How you do it can make a real difference for your users, and empower them with real, informed choice of consent, building trust with your company.An example of our cookie scripts<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCPA regulates how businesses are allowed to process and sell the personal data of California residents. It has been amended and expanded with the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)<\/a> coming into effect in July 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCPA\/CPRA are different from the European GDPR because they don't require organizations to obtain prior consent before the collection and processing of personal data in many cases. There are exceptions, like when the personal data is that of children, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCPA\/CPRA states that businesses must inform users of what categories of personal information their websites collect (e.g. through cookies), for what purpose and which third parties it may be shared with or sold to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCPA\/CPRA also requires websites to implement a \u201cDo Not Sell or Share My Personal Information\u201d<\/strong> link through which users can opt out of having personal information sold to third parties, like Google and Facebook. Users can allow access to their personal data, but if they change their minds later they must be able to revoke consent, and then sharing or sale of their personal data must cease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legal requirements are the same for the cookie text in California, i.e. informing users what cookies and tracking technologies are in use, for what purposes, and with whom it is shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Websites targeting Californian users for CCPA\/CPRA compliance may not use a cookie consent banner (as shown above), but a cookie declaration including the required opt-out link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The primary function of a cookies text is to inform the users of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cookie text or cookie message is the main way of communicating to your visitors that you use analytics or marketing cookies, for example, to make your website and its services better and provide better user experiences, while at the same time protecting user privacy, giving them a real choice of how their data is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is this balancing act that the cookie notice text is meant to express, making your users understand that you use cookies to optimize their website experience, while at the same time making sure that you protect their privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users might see it as a cookie warning message, but the intent is not to worry users, but rather to show how you respect their privacy and how it is integrated in your website's functions, just as the advertisements and analytics are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep the cookie text brief, accurate, and clear. Legal jargon is harder for the average user to understand and does not foster trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your cookie text should comply with data privacy regulations and laws based on the location of the user whose data you\u2019re collecting. Under the GDPR and Brazil\u2019s General Data Protection Law (LGPD)<\/a>, it should comply with opt-in consent best practices. Under US data privacy laws like the CCPA and Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), it should comply with opt-out consent best practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to be familiar with all relevant data protection laws in jurisdictions where your users reside, and many companies doing business globally may need to comply with multiple different laws. This can make geolocation functionality in a consent management solution very valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of where the user is, there are some best practices that are common for all cookie banner text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscribing to Cookiebot CMP enables easy, automatic privacy protection on your website for GDPR and CCPA\/CPRA compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cookiebot CMP can be implemented on your website with a few lines of JavaScript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once employed, it will automatically scan and find all cookies and tracking technologies in use, then block all activation and data collection until the end users have given consent\u2014in the case of GDPR compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For CCPA compliance, the cookie declaration, which is the automated result of the deep scan listing all cookies and trackers uncovered, includes the required \u201cDo Not Sell Or Share My Personal Information\u201d link to enable users to exercise their rights to opt out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever heard of the privacy paradox<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent study out of Harvard University tested the \u201cprivacy paradox\u201d<\/a>, i.e. how people express the importance of their privacy, yet act in ways that are in direct opposition to those supposedly strongly held beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The experiment found that people are, indeed, inconsistent about their privacy. They are willing to pay for privacy, but they are also willing to trade off their privacy for small amounts of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study hints at an explanation too: people choose not to know<\/strong> about the consequences of their actions in order to obtain bonuses. It is known as \u201cinformation avoidance.\u201d People keep their heads in the sand and avoid information about how their behavior will affect their lives, even though on some level they know there are effects, which can be negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven people who are willing to pay to keep their Facebook data private also have a strong preference to avoid thinking about privacy in the first place\u201d<\/em>, Dan Svirsky, the researcher behind the study said to the New York Times<\/a> and added that \u201clots of people don't want to think about this stuff.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, the users of your website do<\/em> care about their privacy, they just don't want to think about it all the time. This is an opportunity for companies to handle that work for users and build trust by doing so in a clear, easily accessible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The consent fatigue<\/em> phenomenon<\/em> is a clear symptom of information avoidance. Your users just click at whatever pops up out of exasperation of constantly having to interact with cookie banners, especially when faced with confusing, noncompliant cookie messages and cookie texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You, as the website owner, are undoubtedly aware of the weary and frustrated reaction of end users towards cookie banners online. \u201cI just click accept, cause I'm so tired of seeing them\u201d<\/em>, is an all too common response in conversations on this subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cookiebot CMP saw this problem many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That's why we developed the solution we have today. One that puts choice and control in the hands of users, but manages the complexities of data privacy for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Cookieboot](\"\/media\/4333\/consent_en.png?width=500&\")
EDPB guidelines on valid consent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Cookies text for GDPR compliance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Cookie](\"\/media\/3570\/skaermbillede-2019-06-04-kl-115505.png?width=500&\")
Cookies text for CCPA compliance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Cookiebot](\"\/media\/4337\/ccpa_main_en.png?width=500&\")
Cookies message examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Screenshot](\"\/media\/3577\/cookie-banner-content-example.png?width=500&\")
Best practices for a legally compliant cookie banner text<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How to show a cookies agreement message on your website<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Privacy paradox: cookie messages vs information avoidance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Sign](\"\/media\/3578\/kai-brame-258773-unsplash.jpg?width=434&\")