Andorra cookies guide

If you have a website operated by a company residing in Andorra, you should remember that it must adapt to the cookie requirements set by the Andorran Data Protection Agency. At the end of September this year, the APDA published its Andorra Cookies Guide, which sets out all the requirements to consider and that you should be familiar with.

What do you need to know about this guide?

Not all cookies usually used on a web page are subject to compliance with the criteria of the APDA. Hence, the following types of cookies are exempt from compliance with the regulations, as no kind of consent is required:

• Technical or strictly necessary cookies: Technical cookies are those that are necessary for the user to browse the website, for example to identify the user’s login details, and to access private areas or those in the shopping cart. The user’s consent will not be required to install these cookies, but their use must be reported in the website’s Cookie Policy.

• User preferences cookies: These remember a user’s choices: browsing language, region or the name and password to log in automatically. Consent is not required for the use of these cookies.

Which cookies are subject to the Andorra cookies guide?

• Statistics cookies or web performance cookies: These are used for information on how the user uses a website, which sections he/she visits or where he/she has clicked. Although the data does not allow for the user to be identified, consent is required for their use. They are the traditional analytical cookies.

• Advertising cookies: These track user activity to offer more relevant ads to suit their tastes and consumption habits or behaviour. They are subject to consent.

So, what if I use cookies subject to the regulations?

Something important must be noted here: it is usually common for the businesses that own the websites not to decide on the cookies that will be used and they are often unaware of use or purpose. 

It is therefore important that, even if a third party makes the website for you, you are aware of the cookies that will be used and installed because the person ultimately responsible for complying with the cookie regulations is the company that owns the web and not the one that designed it.

The two golden rules for complying with the Andorra cookies guide are:

1. Obtain valid consent: in the words of the APDA, express forms of consent are required (for example, by clicking on sections that specify, “I consent”, “I accept” or similar because under no circumstances will “the mere inactivity of the user imply consent”).

As a result, they are contrary to the criteria of the APDA:

• Websites that install non-exempt cookies when visitors enter the website and with no affirmative action by the user. On these websites, acceptance of the installation has no practical consequences because the cookies are already installed merely by accessing the website.

• Cookie footers where formulas like “if you continue browsing, you accept the installation of cookies” are used. This therefore requires positive action by the user, and the mere browsing or use of the website is not considered as such. 

Therefore, if you use cookies affected by the regulations, look for a plugin that meets these requirements to avoid problems of regulatory non-compliance.

2. Inform the user properly, through:

• A banner on the main page of the website that includes the following minimum information: informing that the website uses cookies and offering the possibility to accept them all, reject them all or customise the choice. Include in the banner a link to the full Cookie Policy.

• A complete cookie policy: identification of the owner of the website, explanation of what cookies are and which ones are used on the website in question, purposes and types of cookies used, cookie retention time, recipients, and how to revoke the consent given in the future.

In conclusion, you must pay attention to the cookies that your website uses (whether designed by you or by a third party) and carefully apply the above recommendations in order to avoid regulatory compliance issues. The use of cookies is commonplace, and you could be breaching the criteria of the Andorran APD without knowing it.

If you want to correctly apply the Andorra cookies guide to your website, contact us!:

Information on data protection

Company name
LEGAL IT GLOBAL 2017, SLP
Purpose
Providing the service.
Sending the newsletter.
Legal basis
Compliance with the service provision.
Consent.
Recipients
Your data will not be shared with any third party, except service providers with which we have signed a valid service agreement.
Rights
You may access, rectify or delete your data and exercise the rights indicated in our Privacy Policy.
Further information
See the Privacy Policy.