Do I need a cookie banner on my website in the UK?

By Kai M, Deliberate Design.

The short answer: only if your site sets cookies that are not strictly necessary, and most small business sites do not. The banners you see everywhere are there because those sites run analytics, adverts or social media trackers. A plain site with a contact form sets none of those and needs no banner.

The rule

The UK's PECR regulations say you need consent before putting anything on a visitor's device that is not strictly necessary for the service they asked for. Strictly necessary means things like keeping a shopping basket together or remembering a login. Not strictly necessary means Google Analytics, Facebook pixels, YouTube embeds, chat widgets.

No banner needed

• A brochure site with no analytics
• A contact form that sends to your email
• A basket on a shop, as long as nothing tracks the visitor beyond that

Banner needed

• Google Analytics or any visitor tracking
• Facebook or TikTok pixels
• Embedded YouTube videos and most social feeds
• Live chat widgets

And "needed" means a real choice: the banner must let people say no as easily as yes. A banner with only "Accept" is not consent.

How to check yours

Open your site in a private window, then look in the browser's developer tools under Application or Storage for cookies. Or use a free online cookie scanner. If the list is empty or only has your own session cookie, no banner.

Our templates

They set no tracking cookies, so no banner. If you want visitor numbers we can add a privacy friendly counter that does not need one.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, ask a solicitor.