Why does "Our website uses cookies..." appear on various website?

During your smooth surfing around the web, you might have seen a warning message at the top of a variety websites informing you that they use your cookies such as: "This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish." Alternatively, some websites will use a somewhat annoying popup asking you to accept their terms before entering the website. You might be wondering, "What even are these cookies?!". If you are curious what the tasty pieces of information are, head over to our past blog post explaining the electronic treats. In short, cookies are small text files that record your preferences on a website and do not contain any personal information (such as email address or name).

If cookies are harmless and every website uses them, why do we need to be notified? Lets backup, some website will use cookies to store a little more information about you. Such as what websites you've been visiting and what you were doing there. Advertisers love this information, it gives them the ability to build a small profile about what products might interest you. In the broadest sense, this is not an invasion of privacy because it cannot identify you personally. Yet back in 2002, the European Union enacted the "Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications" which forced EU hosted websites to inform their users on what why and how their cookies were being used. The directive is why websites must inform you on how they use this data.
Although cookies can be used to track some information about you, they are a vital part of how the internet works and keeping it convenient for you. The decade old law might be reshaped soon, but EU websites will always have to inform you on how they use your cookies. Be careful what websites you visit, and which sites you allow the use of your cookies.