Do you need a cookie banner on your website?

Almost every business website sets some cookies, and the rules differ between the United Kingdom and France. A cookie banner that looks right but does not follow the rule can create a legal risk and a poor first impression. This guide explains the basics in plain words. It is general information, not legal advice. Ask a qualified adviser about your own case.

What counts as a cookie for the rules

The rules cover cookies and similar technologies that store or read information on a visitor's device. That includes cookies, local storage and tracking pixels. The source of the cookie does not matter: your own site and third-party tools such as analytics, adverts, maps and video players all count.

The main rule in both countries

• Cookies that are strictly necessary need no consent. Examples are a cookie that keeps items in a basket or one that keeps a visitor logged in.
• Other cookies need the visitor's consent first, unless an exception applies. Advertising and social media tracking almost always need consent. Analytics can fall under a narrow exception in the UK, and under the CNIL's conditions for audience measurement in France, so check the current guidance. Where consent is needed, the cookie must not be set before the visitor agrees.
• Visitors get clear information. They need to know what each cookie does before they choose.

The UK Information Commissioner's Office explains this in its guidance on the use of storage and access technologies. The French regulator, the CNIL, gives its view on cookies and other trackers.

What a good consent banner does

• Refusing is as easy as accepting. A button to accept on the first layer and no way to refuse without extra clicks is a common mistake, and the CNIL has acted on it. See the CNIL's page on cookies and other trackers.
• Nothing non-essential loads before the choice. Test this: open the site in a private window, refuse, and check which cookies exist.
• The choice is easy to change later. A link in the footer can reopen the settings.
• The wording is plain. No pre-ticked boxes and no confusing wording.

Often the best banner is none

Each tool you add can bring a new cookie. A site that uses only strictly necessary cookies may need no banner at all, and it loads faster. Before you add a tool, ask what it sets and whether you will really use the data. Some analytics tools are built to work without cookies. Check the current guidance of the regulator in your market, such as the ICO's guidance on the use of storage and access technologies, before you rely on that.

Questions to ask whoever builds your site

• Which cookies and similar technologies will the site set, and which tool sets each one?
• Does anything non-essential load before the visitor agrees?
• Can a visitor refuse in one click and change the choice later?
• Where is the cookie policy, and who keeps it up to date when tools change?
• Do embedded maps and videos set cookies, and is there a lighter option?

Sources and further reading

• ICO: guidance on the use of storage and access technologies
• CNIL: cookies et autres traceurs

Cookies are one part of data protection: see website security basics.

How DMC Kreatif handles it

We list every tool a site loads and what it stores before we build. We add only what the project needs, and we set up the consent choice so that refusing is as easy as accepting. We do not give legal advice, and we ask the client to confirm the policy text with their own adviser. See also our guides on website speed and the technical SEO checklist.

For a website with a clear cookie set-up, read about our websites service, then ask for a quote. Within 48 h you get a concrete approach, a realistic timeline and a clear quote.