What is a Cookie Policy and Does Your Website Need One?

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your visitors' devices when they browse your site. They serve many purposes: remembering login sessions, tracking user behaviour for analytics, personalising content, and enabling advertising. Some cookies are essential — your site wouldn't work without them. Others are optional, used to enhance the experience or gather data about users.

Because cookies can track user behaviour across sessions and even across different websites, data protection laws around the world now require websites to disclose their cookie usage — and in many cases, to obtain consent before placing non-essential cookies.

Types of cookies you should understand

Do you need a Cookie Policy?

Under GDPR and the EU's ePrivacy Directive (commonly called the "Cookie Law"), you need a Cookie Policy if your website:

• Uses any non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising, preferences)
• Serves visitors from the European Union or United Kingdom
• Uses third-party scripts that set cookies (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, embedded YouTube videos, Disqus comments, etc.)

In practice, this means almost every modern website needs a Cookie Policy. Even a simple blog using Google Analytics needs one. Even a portfolio site with an embedded YouTube video needs one.

What your Cookie Policy must include

A compliant Cookie Policy should contain the following information:

• What cookies are — a brief, plain-language explanation for users who may not be familiar with the technology
• A list of cookies you use — including the cookie name, who sets it (first-party or third-party), its purpose, and how long it lasts
• Categories of cookies — organised by purpose (necessary, analytics, marketing, etc.)
• Third-party cookies — if you use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, or any other third-party tracking, you must disclose this and link to their own privacy/cookie policies
• How users can opt out — explain how to manage browser cookie settings, and ideally link to your cookie consent banner or preference centre
• How you obtained consent — your Cookie Policy should work in conjunction with a cookie consent banner that captures consent before non-essential cookies are set
• Last updated date — regulators expect you to keep this current

Cookie banners and consent

A Cookie Policy is just the disclosure document — it explains what cookies you use. But under GDPR, you also need a mechanism to obtain consent before you set non-essential cookies. This is where cookie consent banners come in.

A compliant cookie banner must:

• Appear before any non-essential cookies are set
• Give users a genuine choice to accept or decline (a single "Accept" button with no "Reject" option is not compliant)
• Allow users to change their preferences at any time
• Not use dark patterns like pre-ticked boxes or making "accept" much more prominent than "decline"

Note that cookie consent banners are separate from a Cookie Policy document — you need both. The banner captures consent; the policy provides the detailed disclosure.

How to write a Cookie Policy

Start by auditing your website to identify all cookies it uses. Tools like Cookie Scanner, CookieBot, or browser developer tools can help you find every cookie set on your site. Then, for each cookie, document its name, purpose, duration, and whether it's first-party or third-party.

Once you have your cookie audit, write your policy in plain English. Avoid legal jargon — regulators specifically expect these documents to be understandable to ordinary people, not just lawyers.

LegalyJet's Cookie Policy generator (coming soon) will generate a fully personalised Cookie Policy based on your specific cookie usage, your jurisdiction, and your business type — completely free.