Let’s put it this way; if you don’t have a Cookie Consent Manager and you’re injecting cookies in your users’ browsers to collect personal data (IP, cross-device tracking, etc.), then you’re illegal.

Does that frighten you? It should. Since the GDPR is officially published in 2016 and then, applicable since May 25th, 2018, much has been discussed about internet cookies.

Some say that you just need to inform how the cookies are being used and what you can do about it. Basically, opt-out.

To address this issue, the EU commission stated an annexe to the regulation to clear things out.

You Need a Cookie Consent Manager

In pretty clear terms, the regulation states that you need prior consent before inserting cookies that track your user’s navigation or identifying that particular person.

If you can anonymise entirely, you could do it, but hardly can make it that way. As long as you can identify a single person per cross-reference with other data or for a single identifier, you need their prior consent.

We recommend that it’s better to play safe than sorry. It’s not that hard, and you can implement a cookie consent manager that complies with the GDPR without much work.

What will happen if you don’t have a Cookie Consent Manager?

Suppose you don’t have a cookie consent manager and you’re collecting your users’ personal data like IP, user identifier, or cross-device third-party tracking like advertising retargeting pixels.

In that case, your company can be fined up to 4% of your global turnover of the preceding fiscal year, or a maximum of 20 million euros.

We don’t know about you, but it can hurt in our financial spreadsheet. If you do the math, you’ll find that having a Cookie Consent Manager can be way cheaper than to pay this kind of fines.

Not to mention that your audience is becoming more informed about their rights and if they see that you don’t care about their privacy, you’ll be hurting your brand.

How can I implement a proper Cookie Consent Manager?

There are a plethora of cookie consent managers out there.

You need to make sure that you’re hiring a solution that can do more than pretend they’re managing your cookie drop. What we mean is, sometimes, the tool doesn’t block every cookie before it downloads into the users’ devices.

There are mainly two separate working tools. One is a hosted tool that manages everything within your server. Other is like a SaaS solution that you use their service while it’s not stored locally. It’s up to you to decide which you prefer to use.

In our case, we preferred to have a hosted tool to make sure that we can control how data is stored safely within our server. We don’t need to keep paying a SaaS license for life if we don’t want to.

Here are a few quick tips to help you implement it correctly.

Implementing a Cookie Consent Manager has a few things that can make us crazy. To prevent you from punching your computer out, here are a few things that we’ve struggled with and what we’ve done to solve them.

Usually, your Cookie Consent Manager can scan and list all the cookies it can find on your website.

1. Please make sure that it can scan every cookie there is. You can double-check using your browser cookie list from what it’s stored.
2. If some cookies don’t show at your tool and you’re storing anyway, you need to create it yourself.
3. Make sure that you bundle every single cookie into categories. It makes it easier for you to activate rules and for your user to consent each type.

Can your Cookie Consent Manager really block each cookie script?

1. Even though it can display the cookie within the consent boxes, sometimes the tool can’t block the script from storing cookies.
2. To make sure that it’s blocking, erase all cookies and cache from your browser and then enter your site. If your browser shows cookies stored without permission, it’s clear that it’s not blocking.

Some cookies are mandatory and necessary.

1. Some cookies from your website are necessary to be always activated. Your website platform produces these, and it needs to be always on for your website’s regular use. However, these cookies don’t collect personal data at all.
2. Some of these cookies are from the actual Cookie Consent Manager, and it needs to be activated as well. Otherwise, it can’t remember what the user consented and their preferences.

How can ZOPPLY help me with the Cookie Consent Manager?

As part of our Web Presence solution, every website that we manage is always compliant with the audience’s law it’s meant to address. Having said that, the Cookie Consent Manager is part of the service bundle provided.

If you’re still not a Web Presence solution client, we can help implement the Cookie Consent Manager for you as a one-time service.

All you have to do is to reach our team and ask for this Cookie Consent Manager solution. We’ll answer in one business day.

Don’t wait to be compliant with the GDPR. It’s mandatory and a sign of respect for your users’ privacy.