websites and cookies

grumpycrab

Web question. There's a couple of local websites I visit and ALWAYS asks about cookies (on each page).  Can anyone familiar with websites tell me what the website author needs to do do stop this?  (my guess is they haven't properly set up the "link/redirection/whatever" between domain name register and website host.) TIA.

moneysaver1978

When you browse, do you use private mode? If so, the cookies that websites saved in the browser are erased (the cookies are there to remember your choice for next time). Otherwise it is possible that the websites are not working properly and didn't successfully set the correct set of cookies.

grumpycrab

Thanks. Normal browsing, not private.  What does a website author have to do to "successfully set the correct set of cookies" ?  Does the website authoring software not do this automatically?  eg. here  All Saints and St Mary's (assm.org.uk)

Neil_Jones

grumpycrab said:

Thanks. Normal browsing, not private.  What does a website author have to do to "successfully set the correct set of cookies" ?  Does the website authoring software not do this automatically?  eg. here  All Saints and St Mary's (assm.org.uk)

Cookies are controlled client/user/browser side, not website side (not directly anyway).

The website can request to set them but the client/browser can for whatever reason (settings, add-ins, etc) ignore that and can also decline a website request to look at it again.

That website uses a Google Calendar, which is a widget, but that sets its own cookies which is why the banner is needed, but for that to work it becomes an essential cookie for the website, so you can't opt out of those.  

The rest of the website itself doesn't appear to use any other cookie that I can see, though I note its a Wordpress publication (this is fine, nothing wrong with that) which has cookie functionality built in, which may be used to monitor how people get around the website, but that's more likely to be in the server logs anyway.

Newcad

It's EU and UK law (GDPR) that websites have to ask your permission to use cookies. (And yes it's annoying).

https://gdpr.eu/cookies/

You can prevent it, most of the time. Some will always get through though.

A Browser extension such as "I don't care about cookies" will block them, or accept them for you so that they go away quickly.

You dont say what browser(s) you are using but here is the page where you can download it for the most popular browsers. It's free
https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/

If there isn't one for your particular browser then you can add it as a filter to AdBlock, Adblock Plus, or U Block Origin

Other cookie blockers are available, check the extension pages for your browser.

moneysaver1978

grumpycrab said:

Thanks. Normal browsing, not private.  What does a website author have to do to "successfully set the correct set of cookies" ?  Does the website authoring software not do this automatically?  eg. here  All Saints and St Mary's (assm.org.uk)

 I can replicate this. From looking at the logs in the devtools, the cookies are set automatically before you clicked "OK" so I guess this is a "feature" where it is displayed no matter what (as there's no condition attached to check if the cookies were already set).

It might just be a bug and the developers (or WP admin) forgot to add a condition around that consent banner. Might be worth emailing them to check?