So I thought the EU directive 2009/136/EC only affected cross-site tracking cookies, the type of cookies that AD networks use. Is this not the case or it’s just

So I thought the EU directive 2009/136/EC only affected cross-site tracking cookies, the type of cookies that AD networks use. Is this not the case or it’s just BBC that goes the extra mile? Anyway, it seems ridiculous to ask for consent to use basic cookies (e.g. to remember the preferred language or the region to use in weather widget) on every single website hosted in EU. Optimally, browsers should just send your preference like they do with DNT headers: Cookie-Preference: (None|Essential|All) Something in that manner — I didn’t really think it through. Actually, wasn’t P3P supposed to be used for something like that? Maybe it’s time to reinvent it… :) From the Wikipedia page about P3P: > As an example, a user may store in the browser preferences that information about their browsing habits should not be collected. If the policy of a Website states that a cookie is used for this purpose, the browser automatically rejects the cookie. That’s even better, because you don’t have to rely on the site to follow law. If something like P3P was widely used by all the major sites, you could set your browser to reject all cookies that don’t include necessary privacy policy along with them. Persistent, tracking cookies could be rejected by default, unless signed by a trusted agency, that would make sure that necessary policies are followed (and it’s not just rogue site that wants to infect you with their cookies). That way AD networks could continue to work seamlessly. P3P might have had some problems, but the core ideas appear to be sound.