Is your cookie banner compliant with privacy laws?

Getting individual consent from users is an essential aspect of customer data collection for organizations around the world. With the growing focus on privacy laws and regulation, more importance has been placed on getting authorization from individuals in order to process their personal data. Most global privacy laws now require organizations to get user consent before using tracking technologies such as cookie consent plugins, cookie consent popups, and cookie consent banners.

Let's take a closer look at cookie consent laws and examples of cookie consent banners used for obtaining user consent. 

What is a cookie banner?

A cookie consent banner is a message that appears on a website to alert users about the use of cookies and seek their permission to store or access information on their device. This is a legal obligation under regulations like the GDPR and other privacy laws, which require informed and explicit consent before collecting data through tracking technologies. The banner typically gives users the option to accept all cookies, decline them, or manage their preferences.

In other words, it is a type of cookie notification that is activated when a user visits a website. The banner explicitly asks for users’ consent before using cookies. This differs from earlier versions of cookie banners in that it doesn’t just inform users about the use of cookies. Instead, it asks their permission to employ cookies. 

Read more: What is consent management and why is it important?

Cookie consent banners have to be easily accessible and visible, and the text of the banner must be stated in clear, unambiguous language that the average user can understand. 

Why are cookie consent banners important?

Cookie consent banners must be easily accessible and visible, with clear, unambiguous language understandable to the average user. They are crucial for complying with various privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, which mandate explicit user consent for data tracking.

Read more: Cookie consent opt-in

What is the purpose of a cookie banner?

The primary purpose of a cookie banner is to ensure ethical, transparent, and legally compliant data collection practices:

• Promote transparency: Ensures users are informed about what data is being collected and why, building trust and awareness
• Enable informed consent: Provides users with clear choices before data is stored or accessed on their device
• Ensure legal adherence: Supports compliance with international data privacy laws that require explicit, prior consent for tracking technologies
• Respect user autonomy: Empowers users to make decisions aligned with their privacy preferences and comfort levels

Do I need a cookie consent banner in the US?

In the US, a cookie consent banner isn't always required by federal law, but it's recommended to comply with state laws like California's CCPA. A consent banner enhances transparency, builds user trust, and prepares for potential future regulations, making it a best practice.

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Is it a legal requirement to have a cookie banner?

In many jurisdictions like the EU under GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, a cookie banner is legally required to obtain user consent before placing non-essential cookies. Other regions may have similar requirements depending on local privacy laws.

Why are cookie banners necesary?

Using a cookie consent banner is both a legal necessity and a best practice for responsible data handling. Key reasons include:

• Regulatory compliance: Laws like GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive mandate user consent for placing non-essential cookies
• Respect for user privacy: Empowers users to make informed choices about how their personal data is collected and used
• Enhances transparency and trust: Showing clear privacy practices builds user confidence and encourages engagement
• Reduces legal and reputational risk: Failure to comply with data privacy laws can lead to fines and damage to brand reputation

Key features of a cookie consent banner

A well-designed cookie consent banner includes several components that make it effective for both users and organizations:

• Cookie categorization: Explains the types of cookies in use—such as essential, performance, analytics, and marketing—and their functions
• User consent options: Allows visitors to accept, decline, or personalize their cookie preferences based on categories
• Regulatory compliance support: Helps websites meet the legal requirements of privacy regulations like GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive
• Privacy controls: Gives users the ability to manage how their data is collected and used through straightforward settings
• User-friendly design: Designed to be accessible and non-intrusive, avoiding misleading layouts or manipulative "dark patterns"
• Flexible display formats: Can appear as banners, modals, pop-ups, or overlays, depending on the site’s design and user flow
• Consent customization: Offers granular controls so users can selectively enable or disable specific types of cookies

Recommended practices for cookie consent banners

To ensure clarity, usability, and legal compliance, organizations should follow these best practices when implementing cookie consent banners:

• Use plain language: The banner should communicate clearly using simple, understandable terms to explain cookie usage
• Include a privacy policy link: Offer a direct link to the full privacy policy so users can access more detailed information if desired
• Provide clear consent options: Display obvious buttons or selections to accept or reject cookies without confusion
• Allow preference customization: If customization is offered, it should be intuitive and enable users to manage cookie categories individually
• Design for minimal disruption: Ensure the banner integrates smoothly into the site layout without overwhelming or distracting the user
• Follow applicable legal standards: Make sure the banner aligns with relevant privacy laws based on the user’s region, such as GDPR or ePrivacy

Examples of cookie consent banners

Cookie consent banners need to have some common elements, such as specific cookie banner text and cookie consent banner code. However, organizations also have some freedom in their design choices.

Cookie banner – legal requirement or best practice?

A GDPR compliant cookie consent banner that follows industry best practices typically includes the following elements:

• Initial display on first visit: The banner appears as soon as a user lands on the website for the first time
• Clear explanation of cookie use: It provides a brief message describing the use of cookies and their intended purposes
• Consent options: Buttons such as “Accept All,” “Reject All,” and “Customize” give users clear choices
• Privacy policy link: Includes a link to the site’s privacy policy for more detailed information on data use
• Ongoing preference control: Offers users the ability to revisit and adjust their cookie settings at any time

Below are some cookie consent examples that demonstrate proper use of these banners:

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Footer cookie consent banner examples

One of the most popular cookie consent examples is using a cookie banner at the footer of a website’s homepage. This saves space on the page so users can still see your homepage and all the information you display there. It doesn’t create as much visual obstruction for visitors as other banners do. 

Popup cookie banner

Popup cookie banners pop up in the center of the website when a user lands on the site. They work well because they grab the user’s attention immediately. Popup cookie banners can be very effective when you are looking for visitor consent before they access any content on your website. Users have to accept or reject the cookie notice in order to explore further on your website. 

Top header cookie banner

The top header cookie banner appears in a website’s header. It can be a great choice for sites with visitors that spend a lot of time in the header area, such as news sites. On this kind of site, visitors look at the top of the page to find the section they want to visit, so they will naturally see the cookie message examples while searching for the content they want. 

Corner box

This type of CCPA cookie banner is displayed in one corner of a website. Users need to view the cookie policy and take action in order to explore the content of that site. 

Read more: How to create a compliant and user-friendly website cookie notice

Free cookie consent banners

There are many ways to design a free cookie banner for your site. Organizations can use a cookie banner generator to design a cookie consent banner free of charge. Cookie consent managers provide automated solutions for cookie laws and help to make life easier by automatically handling the requirements necessary for cookie consent. Using these solutions can help eliminate risk, collapse costs, and enable data-driven growth by obtaining customer consent to collect and use data. 

Go further: Get Ketch free and start collecting consent in 5 minutes of less

It’s important to set up a banner like this, but you can also use cookie plugins for WordPress to scan your site to detect and categorize your WordPress site’s cookies. These plugins can then generate a cookie policy and customizable cookie banner. 

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Understanding GDPR cookie consent

These days, organizations have to consider how to enforce and respect users' consent choices across an entire data ecosystem — not just on a user’s initial visit to their website. Businesses use cookie consent banner code to obtain consent in one specific context. In today’s world, customers interact with brands in myriad channels and mediums. Businesses need to orchestrate and connect a customer’s acceptance or rejection of cookies as data flows through a business and flows down to second and third parties and beyond.  

With GDPR cookie consent law and third-party cookie deprecation in the works, companies need to act fast to implement better consent solutions and comply with a vast patchwork of regulatory and consumer expectations. GDPR cookie banner examples demonstrate compliance with EU regulations, but there is no underlying effort to recognize a customer’s intent, or to apply their preferences beyond the scope of their initial interaction. The user accepts or rejects cookie collection, but the organization has no understanding of what specific data collection is or isn’t acceptable to a given customer. 

Read more: What are some GDPR cookie consent examples?

A modern consent management platform should obtain deeper insights into what customers really want their data to be used for. Instead of getting a narrow consent signal, the best consent management platforms allow you to capture consent preferences according to data purposes. This means asking people for preferences aligned to the purpose for which the company will use their data, such as:

• Analytics
• Advertising
• Improving a product or service
• Tailoring a product or service toward specific demographics
• Providing an improved experience across multiple devices
• Enhanced customer support 

Go further: Cookie compliance

Benefits of using Ketch for cookie compliance

Ketch eliminates complexity by taking a modern, data-centric approach to privacy management. We focus on making privacy and compliance simple, regardless of privacy law or governance mandate. With Ketch, you get all of the following:

• One simple framework for defining acceptable use of any type of data
• One-on-one support with privacy experts
• Plug-and-play templates for cookie disclosures and consent
• Configurable website tags that take as little as five minutes to set up

Effective cookie consent banners are crucial for regulatory compliance and enhancing user trust. By implementing user-friendly and compliant banners, organizations can ensure they meet privacy law requirements while providing a positive user experience.

For more insights into cookie consent and privacy management, explore our comprehensive resources.