Do I need a cookie banner on my website?
The short answer
If people in the EU use your website and it sets cookies or trackers that aren’t strictly necessary, such as analytics and advertising tools, you need their consent first, and a cookie banner is how most websites ask. The UK now lets some analytics and preference cookies run without consent if you tell people and let them object, but advertising cookies still need consent.
Applies in EU · UK · US · Australia
| Where your visitors are | What applies |
|---|---|
| EU | The ePrivacy Directive (Art. 5(3)), applied through each country’s law, requires consent before storing or reading cookies and similar trackers on someone’s device. The exceptions are cookies strictly necessary for a service the person asked for, such as a shopping basket, and cookies used only to send a communication. |
| UK | PECR (regulation 6) has the same rule, but since 5 February 2026 cookies used only to count visits so you can improve your site, or to remember how a visitor wants your site to look or work, don’t need consent — as long as you tell people clearly and give a simple, free way to object. Advertising and cross-site tracking still need consent. |
| US | There’s no general cookie-consent law, but state privacy laws such as California’s require an opt-out from “selling or sharing” data, which covers many advertising trackers. |
| Australia | There’s no cookie-specific law, but information collected through cookies can be personal information under the Privacy Act. |
EU proposals to change the cookie rules (part of the “Digital Omnibus”) had not been adopted as of October 2026, so the current rules still apply.
If you need a banner
- Don’t load analytics or advertising tags until the visitor agrees.
- Make refusing as easy as accepting, and let people change their mind later.
- Explain each type of cookie in your privacy or cookie policy.
- Check whether your analytics tool can run without cookies: some can, which may remove the need for consent for that tool.
SlopDox provides compliance assistance only. This is general information to help you prepare — not legal advice, and no guarantee that a law does or doesn’t apply to you. For decisions, speak to a qualified lawyer.
Words used here
- Personal data
- Any information about an identifiable person — names, emails, addresses, health notes, photos. Privacy laws control how you collect, store and protect it.
- GDPR (European Union)
- Europe’s privacy law. It applies if you handle personal data of people in the EU — even if your business is elsewhere.
- UK GDPR
- The United Kingdom’s version of GDPR, enforced by the ICO.
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