CNIL confirms: etracker analytics does not require consent even with cookies

von Olaf Brandt

In coordination with the French data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), we have created a new data protection setting. This fulfills all requirements for exemption from the obligation to obtain consent for the use of cookies in accordance with the French supervisory authority. The CNIL exemption stipulates that statistical cookies are considered essential for purely aggregated web analysis for the purpose of reach measurement and website optimization and therefore do not require consent.

How to use cookies without consent

With etracker analytics, the necessary settings can be implemented very easily. There is a new item for this in the account settings:

Clicking on the Deactivate non-aggregated reporting button deactivates the display of entries in the “Last visitors” report and the individual order numbers as an attribute in reporting.

Under the exception rule, the standard cookie blocking function can be removed, allowing customer journeys to be recorded for all users. This means that the data basis for making statements about how many “unique” visitors have visited the website in a certain period of time and how often visitors return on average is very reliable.

Only for France?

In France, website operators can benefit from the legally compliant exemption from the consent requirement with etracker analytics. In Germany, the Broadcasting Data Protection Conference has also declared statistical cookies to be consent-free under certain conditions: “Recommendations on the use of cookies in online offerings of broadcasters“. A uniform position of the supervisory authorities in Germany and at European level does not yet exist. In this respect, the use of the exemption in EU countries other than France is associated with increased legal risks compared to the consent-free cookie-free option when using etracker Analytics.

Advantage of the choice

In total, website operators can choose between four consent options when using etracker Analytics. Particularly important: three options enable consent-independent tracking and thus ensure a sufficient database for controlling marketing measures.

Our experts will be happy to advise you on the optimal consent option and, if necessary, put you in touch with legal advisors. The Customer Service Team provides support with the implementation of the selected variant (see also our instructions for the various Consent Management platforms).