Defining Cookie Categories Based on Actual Function
Categories must reflect the purpose and behavior of a service. A convenient product name or generic label does not replace this assessment.
For website operators and data protection officers, "Creating Cookie Categories Based on Function" illustrates the difference between "Observed Function" and "Purpose Granularity." "Necessary Overstretched" is the typical warning sign.
Published: 3 min read · Author: Sebastian Geier
How do you properly assign cookies and similar technologies to a category?
Each cookie and storage value is evaluated according to trigger, content, lifespan, recipient, purpose, and necessary function. A provider can affect multiple categories; therefore, necessary and optional uses are separated at the functional or data flow level instead of being categorized across brands.
Practical scenario: "Necessary overstretched"
A platform provider sets a login value and an additional analytics identifier. Instead of combining both as necessary, functions are evaluated separately; login remains possible, while analytics follows the appropriate optional purpose.
Observed Function
Test criterion
Observed Function
Runtime testing and configuration show what the value is actually set for and subsequently used for.
Test criterion
Purpose Granularity
Authentication, preference, analytics, and advertising are not lumped together under a convenient umbrella category.
Configuration reference – The rating applies to activated modules, settings, and data targets of the implementation itself, not to the provider in general.
Necessary overreach
Necessary overreach – A helpful convenience or measurement feature is presented as mandatory, even though the core service functions without it.
Provider flat rate – A single label obscures the fact that different functions of the same tool serve entirely different data purposes.
Dynamic value Experiments or new modules use additional storage that is not covered by the previous category decision.
Purpose Granularity
Cookies, local storage, and other client-side values are technically monitored based on user state and function.
Each entry is assigned a purpose, trigger, provider, lifetime, recipient, and a technically confirmed category.
Release and period tests report new or changed values and trigger a re-evaluation.
Configuration reference
Proportion of active storage values with a monitored function, documented purpose, and approved category.
Number of unknown, incorrectly categorized, or unchecked values after configuration changes.
What's covered in "Creating Cookie Categories by Function"
Maintain consistent consent across pages and subdomains delves deeper into the "Observed Function" checkpoint. The key question is: How does consent remain consistent across multiple pages and subdomains?
A complementary perspective is offered Why a Green Audit Score Doesn't Prove a Healthy WebsiteIt answers the question: "Why doesn't a green SEO audit score necessarily prove a technically sound website?"
If you want to practically implement "Creating Cookie Categories by Function," you can refer to Robust Website Systems This focuses on "Consent and Withdrawal" and "Observed Function."
Conclusion: Creating Cookie Categories by Function
Cookie categories describe actual functions, not provider identity. Technical observation and professional purpose assessment must be combined for this.
Sources and Further Information
The classification of "cookie categories by function" is based on the following official documentation and standards.
Cookies and Similar Technologies – ICOOfficial regulatory practice on cookie purposes, information, consent, and similar technologies.
Guidelines 05/2020 on Consent – European Data Protection BoardOfficial EDPB interpretation on voluntariness, informed consent, unambiguity, and withdrawal of consent.
Key Thesis
Each technology is evaluated based on its purpose, trigger, recipient, lifetime, and dependencies. If its function or configuration changes, the classification is re-evaluated.
What This Is Not About
Cookie categories should not be derived from vendor marketing names, technical file names, or generic lists from a scanner.
What it's about
The classification follows the actual purpose and behavior of each storage device or signal in the specific configuration used.
Consent, data protection & tracking quality
Conduct a technical data privacy inventory for websites
"Creating cookie categories by function" includes, as a separate audit step, the question: What technical traces must a data privacy inventory of a website capture?
Consent, data protection & tracking quality
Regularly compare privacy policies with technical implementation.
Supplements "Creating cookie categories by function" with a separate decision: How do you check whether data privacy notices and technical data processing still align?
Insights Overview
All VELUNO Insights at a Glance
Further analyses on Website Systems, digital visibility, and robust working models.
Configuration reference: Implementation with clear verification
A large provider is first broken down into its individual set values and functions. Each function is then assigned its own justified category.