[OSM-talk] Flash cookies

[Chris Hill]

On 22/06/11 11:19, Richard Fairhurst wrote:
> ce-test, "qualified" testing bv - Gert Gremmen wrote:
>> Since recently  was decided that in NL
>> cookies are subject to explicit permission of
>> the users, I'd think that Openstreetmap provides
>> information on what information and settings are
>> actually used by OSM.
> Ok then.
>
> OSM per se doesn't store anything in Flash cookies. Potlatch does. That's
> because, oddly enough, it's a Flash app and wants to remember your
> preferences (selected background and stylesheet, TIGER highlighting,
> function key settings) from one session to the next.
>

The European directive came into force in the UK (where the servers are 
located) in May 2011. The bluster about this in the press has often 
missed a vital point, that is that para 4 says cookies are exempt if 
they are ‘strictly
necessary’ for a service requested by the user.

The situation is not clear, but it seems to me that is a suitable 
exemption for Potlatch's cookies. If data-gathering cookies, such as 
Analytics, were being used then an opt-in would certainly be required, 
but exactly when and how this might be enforced is yet to be clarified.

There is a fuller explanation from the UK's Information Commissioner's 
Office in a pdf here <http://bit.ly/kgurcZ>

Further discussion should probably go onto @legal-talk, IMHO.

-- 
Cheers, Chris
user: chillly