Grafik mit verschiedenen Icons: Cookie, DSGVO, Daten

Cookies for everyone? The verdict is in, and it's “NO”!

08/28/2020

The latest ruling by the Federal Court of Justice has further advanced the already anticipated consequences for cookie notices and privacy policies. What are the solutions?

The use of cookie notices without the option to decline is no longer permitted. Even the notice “By using our site, you agree to cookies...” is subject to legal action.

Now, most of us use a so-called consent manager, which manages cookies and offers users the option to decline them. However, the consequences of this are obvious: users reject cookies and are therefore no longer tracked by Google Analytics, for example. Depending on the rejection rate, we lose a large amount of data and accurate reporting is no longer possible.

In addition, the overturning of the EU-US Privacy Shield stipulates that data collected in the EU may not leave the EU. This is a setback for American companies such as Google and Adobe, as the data collected in the EU often runs through American servers. To get out of this predicament, we need to ask ourselves the following questions: What do we actually want, and who can offer it to us if Google and Co. are no longer an option?

1-2-3 points to note

Firstly, it is not about tracking our users. It is not important WHO visits our website. What matters is WHAT happens on our website:

How often is the new item clicked on in the shop?
Which pages are visited most frequently?
How do users navigate through our website—in other words, what is the click path?
Where do users come from, i.e. how well is our advertising campaign working?

These are the questions that matter, and we can only develop and improve our website efficiently if we can answer them.

etracker: Not quite as crispy, but compliant with data protection regulations

Unlike cookies, no user profiles are stored here; instead, 100% anonymized visitor data is used. This data does not leave Germany, and since it is limited to visits, there is no need to obtain the user's consent.

All you need to do is include a note in your privacy policy stating that you use this tool and that users can opt out.

Sounds good, but... where's the catch?

Unlike the free tool Google Analytics, which earns its money by selling the data it collects, etracker costs money. Depending on the number of clicks tracked, you pay more or less. There is a manageable number of tariffs and affordable entry-level options.

If you're still not convinced, consider the cost-benefit ratio: What good is it to me to run a marketing campaign for €10,000 if I don't have any usable data about its effectiveness afterwards? The €49 for etracker, for example, doesn't seem like too much to ask.