Cookie consent is a website users’ ability to choose how tracking technologies, like cookies, are used on their browsers or devices.
It’s not just about their acceptance.
Cookie consent encompasses their ability to accept, decline, and customize cookies, tags, pixels, and other tracking technologies. Keep reading to learn more.
Why Does Cookie Consent Matter?
Cookie consent matters because privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act create obligations impacting how businesses obtain and honor cookie consent, and consumers care about their personal data privacy online.
Internet cookies, tags, pixels, and other trackers can and often are used to process personal data of the person whose browser or device they end up on.
Because this can present privacy concerns for individuals, laws exist giving people rights to ensure their privacy remains respected and safe.
These laws often require websites to transparently inform users about what personal data you’re collecting and provide them with control over if, when, and how it’s processed and used.
This includes personal data processed by the deployment of cookies or other trackers.
How Do Cookies Collect Personal Data?
Cookies collect personal data by acting as a digital ID attached to a person’s digital activities across their browser or device.
These trackers can be used to obtain a variety of details, including:
- Basic user information, i.e., language preferences, location, device details.
- Website activity and behavioral data, i.e., pages visits, time spent on each page, clicks.
- Session information, i.e., if a user is logged in, items in a shopping cart, Session IDs.
- Marketing & advertising data, i.e., ads users have seen, interests based on browsing behavior, if a user returns to a site.
- Analytics/performance, i.e., number of visitors, bounce rates, traffic sources.
- Personalization data, i.e., saved preferences, recently viewed products, customized content.
Cookies are not only used to track data or perform targeted advertising.
The user experience is improved when they can log into an account and remain logged in as they browse different pages or have items in their shopping carts remembered as they scroll through items in your shop.
They also are essential for helping websites function properly.
These cookies, often referred to as essential cookies or necessary cookies, typically do not require consent to be used because they do not process personal data.
Does My Website Use Cookies to Process Data?
Most modern websites use cookies.
To learn what cookies your website uses, you can start by running it through our free cookie scanner tool. It will categorize and label them for you into a custom scan report.
There are also ways to manually check what cookies your site is using depending on which browser you use.
For example, in Chrome, you can right click on the web page, select ‘Inspect’, navigate to ‘Application’ and then expand the ‘Storage’ until you find ‘Cookies’.
How Do I Manage Cookie Consent on My Website?
To manage cookie consent, you need at least these three things:
- A properly configured cookie consent banner: This helps you obtain adequate legal consent from consumers to place cookies on their browsers. It can also enable them to opt out of cookies in accordance with legal requirements. Consent banners like Termly’s have features like regional consent rules, multi-language supports, and script auto blocking and adapt for your users protected by different laws. This way, a user in California sees a CCPA-configured banner, while users in the EU will see a banner set up for the GDPR.
- An updated cookie policy: This policy keeps users properly informed, helping you meet the transparency requirements outlined by privacy laws and ensuring they can make a truly informed decision about their personal information. Termly offers a cookie policy generator that uses your scan report to make a custom policy for you, which can be linked to your consent banner.
- A preference center: Having a preference center available for users helps ensure they can change their minds at any time, which is required by laws like the GDPR. Termly’s consent management platform provides a preference center which you can link to your consent banner during configuration.
These three tools combined can help you more easily align your site with privacy laws that impact cookie consent requirements, and they help keep your users informed about data processing while also giving them some choice and control over the matter.
Written by Natasha Piirainen
Natasha Piirainen is a privacy writer with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Philosophy from Wheaton College and over 10 years of professional experience in research-driven content development.
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Reviewed by Amanda Lee
Amanda is a Documentation Specialist and Certified Privacy Professional (US). She converts product documentation into easily understood product for Termly's customers. She also has strong understanding of US privacy laws and regulations, helping to keep customer policies up to date at a time when US states are enacting more and more privacy laws.
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