Can you be fined for your cookie setup?
Yes, in principle, cookie and consent breaches can carry fines, and some have been large. But the real-world risk for most businesses is more nuanced than the scare stories suggest. Here is the honest picture.
What the law actually allows
Under GDPR and PECR, regulators can issue significant fines for setting non-essential cookies without valid consent. Enforcement so far has focused on bigger players and clear, deliberate breaches, but regulators have repeatedly warned smaller businesses and run sweeps of non-compliant banners.
The practical risk
- A fine out of nowhere for a small site is unlikely but not impossible.
- More common consequences: a complaint, a regulator's notice to fix it, or a prospect or partner's due-diligence flagging it.
- The quieter cost is the data you lose and mis-measure while non-compliant.
We are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice, so for your specific exposure talk to a solicitor. What we can tell you is that the same faults that risk a fine are usually wrecking your tracking too, so fixing one fixes both.
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