What should a cookie policy text include for a U.S. website?
Besides adding a cookie consent banner, you also have to add a page dedicated to the cookies policy on your site to extensively explain to users things related not only to their rights regarding cookies, but also instructions on how to manage them and understand how they work.
This article focuses on U.S. cookie policy texts, to help you build a page that is compliant as well as understandable for users, in a way that helps you grasp not only what the policies ask from you, but also what you should deliver to your users.
What are the essential elements of a comprehensive cookie policy?
When we talk about a cookie policy text, we refer to the page within a site in which everything related to cookies is explained for users to understand them, learn how you use them on your site, and see how to manage them in case of withdrawal.
The first thing you have to take into account is that the U.S. doesn’t have a unique cookie policy, as compliance is governed by state-level data privacy laws like the California CCPA/CPRA, Virginia’s VCDPA, and over a dozen other state frameworks. Thus, you will have to check the specific compliance requirements you need to meet before jumping into writing yours. As soon as you know that, it must be said that there are certain elements that should be added to any cookie policy page text, with the three main elements being:
- A comprehensible explanation of what cookies are: A lot of users don’t even know what cookies are, and it’s very important that you explain it to them to make the content of this page actually accessible and help them understand in what way cookies affect them. Try to write an understandable definition of what cookies are, making sure it’s easy to read and grasp.
- A comprehensible explanation of the types of cookies you use: After explaining what cookies are, you should go further into the ways your site uses those cookies by explaining to users what types of cookies you are using and what they do on your site, helping users get a better understanding of them so they can choose how to manage the cookies.
- A comprehensible explanation of how users can manage or withdraw their cookie consent: Now that they know what cookies are, understand the ones you use, and have the full picture, they can choose what to do about it. Users can now make a decision, but you have to explain to them the ways in which they can manage their consent as well as the withdrawal in case they already accepted it. This is crucial, because even though U.S. policies have an opt-out model, failing to provide this can get you into trouble if it appears you are not allowing users to control their cookie preferences.
These three points are the minimum requirements to be compliant with U.S. policies; however, within these sections, a few key clauses must also be added.
- “Selling” and “Sharing” disclosures: Under the CCPA/CPRA, using third-party tracking pixels (like Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or ad networks) to target ads technically counts as “selling” or “sharing” personal information. Your policy must clearly state this.
- The “Do Not Sell or Share” right: Just as you did regarding the management and withdrawal of cookies, you must include explicit instructions on how users can opt out of this data sharing.
- Global Privacy Control (GPC): Many states legally require your website to recognize browser-level privacy signals. Your text must state that you automatically honor GPC signals.
- Contact information: Include details on how users can reach the website owner or data protection officer with privacy questions. The information usually shared includes data like an email address, mailing address, and phone number.
- Last-updated date: Show the exact date the policy was last revised, which is critical for audits (and even for you to keep track of the last time it was updated).
Remember that the language must be understandable for any user, and the information should be structured and accessible for visitors who rely on other means, such as screen readers.
How to write cookie policy text that complies with U.S. privacy laws?
As mentioned before, not only do countries have different cookie policies, but states within the U.S. also have their own regulations regarding privacy laws. Therefore, before starting to write any text, it’s recommended to decide what privacy laws your website is going to stick to. After deciding on that, you can start to write the cookie policy text.
Now that you know where to start and the requirements regarding the essential elements of a cookie policy in the U.S., you can begin writing it in a comprehensible order. We normally recommend organizing it this way:
- Title and brief introduction
- What are cookies?
- Types of cookies used
- How to manage or withdraw consent
- “Selling” and “sharing” disclosures (including GPC and opt-out rights)
- Contact information and last-updated date
In those sections, you have to add the required information listed above, always in an understandable way that is accessible to everyone. While you are writing, try to explain everything with every user in mind, using a simple style with short sentences and a very structured format to make it easier not only to understand, but also to find the information in a straightforward way.
After writing everything, remember to check if you have included all the required information, review any overly complex sentences, and ensure the text isn’t too complicated. This will make things easier not only for users, but also for law enforcement, as they will see that you are being helpful and transparent regarding user rights.
Can I generate a cookie policy text automatically for my e-commerce site?
The short answer is yes, you can. However, you have to be very careful with it, as this is not a trivial matter. On the internet, there are plenty of sites that claim to automatically generate cookie policy texts that are compliant with the strictest policies for free; however, this is not always true.
First of all, and as we have already mentioned multiple times throughout this article, you must stick to the policies that affect you as an e-commerce business. If you are based in California and only sell your products to that US state, it will be wise to stick to the CCPA/CPRA laws and generate a text compliant with those. Therefore, not every site will serve your goal, as you will have to look for one that is specifically built to be compliant with those laws.
Second of all, sometimes they say it is compliant with a specific policy, but when you check the generated text, there are elements missing or the information is not explained in a comprehensible way. After generating the text with any website, check the resulting text and try to look for the elements we have said are required, as well as read the text to determine if it is accessible and comprehensible to any user. This is very important, as it’s a crucial requirement in any policy, whether it is from the US or even Europe.
Finally, if the previous steps check out, we also recommend comparing the resulting text with one from a real, reliable website that operates in the same state as you do. In that way, you can identify missing parts or even get a better understanding of how to improve the resulting text to be more compliant and comprehensible.
Where can I find a reliable cookie policy template for a new website?
Before you look anywhere else: our own free policy generator asks you six questions and drafts the whole page for you, in plain English, with no account needed. If you’d rather compare other options, there are also plenty of platforms offering cookie policy templates on the internet; some of them are free, while others require payment, but not all of them are reliable. If you are looking for a cookie policy template that complies with U.S. privacy laws, we would recommend checking the following sites:
- CookieYes: A well-known cookie policy text generator is CookieYes, which, based on Trustpilot reviews, is a strong contender with high feedback scores. Even though it’s a quite simple app with not a lot of extra features, it generates a good text with solid compliance coverage. On their website, they don’t explicitly detail the extent of their internal legal team backing up the text or how they handle long-term updates if the law evolves, but it can be a great start to establish a proper cookie policy text.
- TermsFeed: Another simple text generator with good reviews is TermsFeed, which is even simpler than CookieYes since it is focused strictly on creating policy text (whereas CookieYes includes other integrated features like cookie banners and consent management tools).
These two options are great for small-to-medium e-commerce sites that don’t need a massive amount of customization, want an intuitive, easy-to-use platform with minimum technical requirements, and are looking for functional free tiers or low-cost choices.
However, if you are looking for a more complete cookie policy generator, we would recommend iubenda. Based on Trustpilot reviews, it’s a great option, particularly praised for its customer support and breadth of compliance functionality. We strongly recommend it if you have the budget to pay for a solution that frees you from constantly checking the evolving compliance of your text yourself, as it has legal professionals working behind the scenes to keep documents compliant whenever policies change.
Nevertheless, even though we have recommended some sites, it must be said that you should always keep the previous recommendations in mind and follow them accordingly to create a genuinely compliant text if you prefer not to write it yourself (which can sometimes be the best solution depending on your level of expertise regarding the matter). Besides, even though these services claim that a team of legal experts is reviewing and updating the text, it remains crucial to perform your own final checks to ensure everything aligns with your specific jurisdiction and business operations.
How much does a professional cookie policy solution typically cost?
The final cost will depend on the specific needs your site has to cover, but you can expect to pay anywhere between $10 and $35 per month. It’s not a lot, but we understand that some businesses don’t have a large budget to spend on things that can be done for free. That’s why we have listed some recommendations here, along with the key factors you should consider when creating this type of text, whether you do it yourself or use an automated platform. And if you’d rather not pay at all: our own playground walks you through building a cookie banner step by step, no account and no coding needed. The policy page above stays the only thing you have to write yourself. If you’re comfortable with AI tools, you can also connect your assistant to Zest and ask it to prepare the setup for you.
The key takeaways are:
- You can create it yourself as long as you have identified which policies you need to be compliant with and the required sections you should include.
- Tools that automatically generate these types of texts are quite useful, but you shouldn’t trust them completely, as a final review must be done afterwards.
- For some businesses, it’s worth paying for professional cookie policy solutions if you don’t want to worry about compliance 24/7, but this doesn’t mean you should completely forget about it or skip checking it yourself, even if the platform claims to have a dedicated legal team.
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Andrea @ FreshJuice