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October 28, 2020

Why cookie consent is crucial for your business



In 2018 the EU introduced a new set of regulations for data protection and privacy called GDPR; a pan-European law designed to secure that data relating to individual users is collected and stored in a lawful manner.

Cookie consent is one of the most significant pillars of GDPR compliance, which is why website owners need to make sure that their cookie consent forms are in check in order for them to be GDPR compliant.



This article gives you an introduction to what it takes for websites to be GDPR compliant and how the law protects users from being targeted by unsolicited marketing.

What is cookie consent?

Basically, cookie consent is a matter of collecting individual permissions from each user who visits your website to ensure that you have their consent to collect and track data about them.

A website cookie is a piece of data which is stored on your computer when you browse a website, and cookies come in many forms. Some cookies are necessary for your site to function, while others are not.

One example of a cookie that is not necessary for your site to function is cookies that are only there for marketing purposes. The use of this kind of cookies must be accompanied by a cookie consent form. Otherwise the website is at risk of violating the GDPR rules.

How cookie consent protects users

The primary functions of cookie consent forms on websites is to let users decide for themselves whether they want to give permission for a website to activate cookies and trackers that collect their personal data.

The possibility of opting out protects users from being targeted by remarketingefforts later on. This way the user always gets a say in what kind of marketing messages they want to expose themselves to.

How website owners can ensure GDPR compliancy

As for all other kinds of corporate law it takes a lot of expertise to become completely familiar with the implications of GDPR.

This is part of the reason why many website owners use technical third-party solutions to ensure compliancy, for instance by installing plugins on their websites for that particular purpose.

When using such a third-party plugin, website owners can ensure that a form pops up the first time a user visits the website, allowing the user to check off whether he or she wants to give permission to let the website activate its cookies and trackers.

This way users gets to opt in and give permission to a website for storing necessary cookies as well as opt out of the website storing cookies that are only there for marketing purposes.

What website owners should know about GDPR

As the GDPR law applies to all websites that potentially collects data from its European visitors, there is no getting around the fact that GDPR affects all businesses who currently have an online presence in the form a website.

Hence it is good to keep in mind for website owners across the world that most European consumers have become familiar with GDPR law over the past few years. This means that it may negatively influence a website owner’s brand towards potential customers in Europe if they have not made sure that they are in complete compliance with GDPR.



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