Most agency websites show a cookie banner because most websites do. Whether yours actually needs one depends on what the site stores in visitors’ browsers, and for many agencies the honest answer is that it needs one only because of something that could be removed.
The rule
In the UK, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) say a website must ask for consent before storing information on a visitor’s device, or reading it back, unless that storage is strictly necessary for something the visitor asked for. Cookies are the usual example, but the rule covers similar technology too.
Strictly necessary covers things like keeping someone signed in, remembering what is in a basket, or remembering the visitor’s answer to the cookie question itself. It has not traditionally covered analytics or advertising. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduces some exemptions for low-risk uses such as certain analytics, so check the ICO’s current guidance before relying on one.
What usually triggers it on an agency site
- Google Analytics, or any other analytics tool
- Advertising pixels, such as Meta’s or Google’s
- Session recording and heatmap tools
- Live chat widgets
- Embedded videos and some embedded maps
Separately, anything loaded from a third party, such as fonts served by Google, sends the visitor’s IP address to that third party. That is a data protection question rather than a cookie question, but it is worth knowing where your visitors’ data goes.
If you do need a banner
The ICO’s guidance sets out what a consent banner has to do:
- Nothing non-essential runs until the visitor agrees.
- Rejecting is as easy as accepting, with no extra clicks or dimmer buttons.
- Nothing is pre-ticked, and carrying on browsing is not consent.
- The visitor can change their mind later, as easily as they agreed.
The cost of a banner
A banner is not free. On a phone it can cover a third of the screen, and it sits in front of the valuation form you are paying the website to fill. If the only reason for the banner is a tool nobody in the office looks at, removing the tool may be the better answer.
Realist sites store nothing on visitors’ devices by default, so they need no banner. If an agency adds analytics, a banner with equal Accept and Reject buttons comes with it, and nothing loads before Accept.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. If you are unsure about your own site, check the ICO’s guidance or take advice.
See a site with no banner
We will show you a Realist site that needs no consent banner at all on a demo call. Book a demo.