Blue chips breaking cookie rules

The 12 months’ preparation period afforded before EU rules on cookies were to bite firms appears to have been a waste of time among blue chips, fresh research suggests.

In fact, a survey of FTSE companies by IT consultancy Cookie Reports shows that just one company clearly says on its website that it audits the use of the ubiquitous files.

The finding, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, calls into question the effectiveness of the one-year lead-in period, granted in May 2011 to allow UK e-firms to “get their house in order.”

Poor compliance was first flagged up some 50 days before the rules were due to be enforced, but it seems that the threat of potentially hefty fines has not scared FTSE firms into action.

Indeed, the survey reportedly shows that rather than being nearly compliant, most of the companies scrutinised are “far short” of what is required by regulators (such as the ICO).

Five steps that website owners and administrators should take to avoid breaking the cookie rules have been spelt out by Olivia Whitcroft, principal of information law firm OBEP.