Websites use cookies, local storage, session storage, and other website trackers to collect data from users. This data is essential for digital advertising companies to collect analytics and provide targeted advertisements. Different types of cookies also increase the user website experience, are needed for website functionality, and serve other functions.
However, website users value their privacy and usually want to share their personal data only with trusted websites. privacy laws regulate the collection and processing of personal data, and non-compliance with the privacy regulations could lead to severe penalties.
There are many companies that collect personal data via cookies that they don’t even realize their website is using. So, how to reach website cookie compliance?
Use a website cookie checker to check what cookies and other website trackers a website uses. A website checker is an essential tool to ensure cookie compliance and build trust with users.
What is a Website Cookie Checker?
A website cookie checker is a tool designed to scan and analyze the cookies used by a website. It identifies cookies and other trackers set by the website, including first-party cookies (set by the website itself) and Third-Party Cookies (set by external companies).
The website checker provides detailed information about all cookies present on the website, including:
- Cookie name: The identifier for the cookie, local storage, session storage, and other website tracker.
- Domain: The domain from which the cookie comes.
- Purpose: The reason why the cookie is being set. The cookies could be set for analytics, advertising, user preferences, and other purposes.
- Duration: How long the cookie will remain on the user's device. Session cookies are set on the user’s device only for a specific session, while persistent cookies remain persistently, but usually no longer than for one year, as required by most privacy laws.
- Category: Classification of cookies. There are different types of cookies, such as strictly necessary, performance, functionality, or advertising cookies.
- Compliance: Whether the cookie complies with relevant privacy regulations.
By using a website checker, businesses can understand about how their websites handle user data, ensure compliance with privacy laws, and make informed decisions about managing cookies.
Need a website cookie checker? CookieScript website checker has a full set of functionalities, which you can try for free!
What Is a Website Cookie Checker Needed for?
A website checker is essential for any website for the following reasons:
- Compliance with privacy laws. Every website must comply with relevant privacy laws. Regulations like GDPR, CPRA, French CNIL, UK DPA 2018, and others require websites to obtain explicit cookie consent from users before storing non-essential cookies on their devices. Failure to comply can result in significant penalties and fines. A website checker helps businesses identify and categorize cookies. This information must be provided on a cookie notice and a Privacy Policy a in order to obtain the cookie consent from users.
- Building user trust. By using a website cookie checker, businesses can provide detailed cookie information to their users. This shows transparency and a commitment to privacy and data protection. When users see that a website is transparent about its cookie practices, they are more likely to trust the website and share their data with it.
- Improving user experience. A website checker helps identify which cookies are essential and which ones are not. Minimizing the use of non-essential cookies and not collecting unnecessary data will reduce website load times and could increase the user experience.
- Optimizing marketing and analytics efforts. Cookies collect information, needed for marketing and analytics, but there must be a balance with user privacy. A website checker provides insights into how cookies are used for tracking and targeting. This allows to understand which cookies are effective in collecting user data and to obtain user consent. Thus, businesses can improve their marketing efforts and comply with the privacy laws at the same time.
How CookieScript Can Help?
With data privacy laws getting more complicated, it is a challenge to stay compliant. Therefore, businesses are advised to use a Consent Management Platform (CMP) to ensure website compliance.
CookieScript CMP is a professional and reputable CMP. It is a Google-certified CMP, recommended by Google to implement Google Consent Mode v2 and Google Tag Manager. Recently it received a Golden badge in the new Google tiering system.
Moreover, in 2024 CookieScript CMP was nominated as the best CMP for small and medium-sized businesses on G2, a peer-reviewed website.
How does CookieScript website cookie checker work?
CookieScript website checker is easy to use:
- Enter your website’s URL into the website checker tool.
- The website checker scans your website and detects all cookies and website trackers in use.
- The website checker categorizes the cookies based on their purpose, provider, and data collection.
- The tool generates a cookie report and could automatically place it on your Cookie Banner or the Privacy Policy.
Done. You can be transparent, providing your website users a detailed list of cookies. It’s an easy and automated process.
Features and benefits of a CookieScript website checker
CookieScript website checker is a professional cookie scanner with the following functionalities:
- Automatic detection of special cookies. CookieScript website checker can detect cookies with unique names and cookies with random names. The Cookie Scanner automatically identifies cookies with unique names and assigns categories and descriptions to those cookies. Many popular content management systems generate session cookies with random names. The tool also automatically detects those cookies and saves them as a pattern in the cookie report without adding them to your cookie report after every automatic scanning.
- Detection of local storage and session storage. CookieScript cookie analyzer can also detect local storage and session storage and add them to the cookie report. Not many CMPs can detect local storage and session storage.
- Pre-build database of cookies. CookieScript website analyzer has a database of 100.000+ most commonly used cookies, grouped by categories and with a pre-assigned description that explains what every cookie is used for. Our statistics shows that it is more than 80% of your website cookies, so you won't need to write the description your cookies or think about categorizing them.
- No email required. CookieScript values user privacy and does not require you to enter an email to try out our Cookie Scanner.
- Monthly updates. CookieScript website checker automatically checks your website once a month and updates your cookie report. You can be sure your cookie report is always up to date.
- Scan individual pages. Differently from other website checkers, you can scan separate pages and subfolders, rather than just full domains. The same applies to the Cookie Consent banner: you are not forced to use only the domain, so this might be handy in the development stages when your website is hosted in a subfolder.
- Fast scanning. It could be irritating to wait for half an hour just to get a demo cookie test of your website. CookieScript website cookie analyzer scans quickly and effectively. Depending on your website speed it takes around 10-15 seconds to scan 10 website pages on average.
- Free to scan. You can always try our Cookie Scanner for free and see which cookies are used on your website. With CookieScript website analyzer, you can scan 10 pages of your website without registering an account.
CookieScript website checker has a full set of functionalities, which you can try for free!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a website cookie checker?
A website checker is a tool that scans a website to identify and categorize cookies, present on the website. It identifies all the cookies on a website and generates a detailed cookie report, which could be placed on a cookie banner or Privacy Policy. CookieScript website checker identifies not only cookies, but also local storage, session storage, and other website trackers.
Why should I check cookies on my website?
GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive (the EU cookie law) requires websites to collect personal data only after you get explicit user consent. You should identify all cookies that are used on your website to place the list of them into your cookie report, which is needed to ensure your website’s cookie compliance. Revealing cookies on your website also helps build user trust, improve user experience, and optimize marketing and analytics efforts. Use CookieScript website checker to get cookies on your website.
How to check cookies on my website?
You can check cookies on your website by using a free website cookie checker tool by CookieScript. You simply enter your website’s URL into the website checker tool, and the website checker will scan your website, detect and categorize all cookies in use, and automatically generate a cookie report.
How to check if my website is cookie-compliant?
To ensure cookie compliance, you need to identify cookies that your website sets on a user’s device. You can detect cookies on your website by using a free website cookie checker tool by CookieScript. You simply enter your website’s URL into the website checker tool, and the website checker will scan your website, detect and categorize all cookies in use, and generate a cookie report.
How to choose a website cookie checker?
When looking for a website checker, it’s important to keep some features in mind, including a pre-built database of cookies, automatic detection of special cookies, local storage, session storage, monthly software updates, and the ability to scan individual pages. It also helps if you can find a tool that allows you to use it without entering your email address. CookieScript website checker has all these functionalities and more. You can also try it for free.
