The Effect of Cookieless Tracking and Privacy Regulations on Business

In a world where data collection is so vital to how businesses operate, there are many regulations put in place to protect the privacy of users online. Cookies and tags are often used by websites to gather and store information on user choices, purchases, and actions as they browse and interact online. Because of this, global markets, namely in Europe and the United States, have made several legal efforts to ensure the security of consumers through cookieless tracking. 

The European Union has been aggressively developing and enforcing laws and regulations that govern online policy, such as the implementation of ePrivacy Directive and the creation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the United States, the Consumer Privacy Act of California, Privacy Act of Colorado, and the Consumer Data Protection Act of Virginia all operate on a state-by-state basis to grant rights to users related to the processing of their personal information.

Because of how strict these regulations are, there are many challenges that businesses are faced with when trying to gather sufficient data from online sources. If too many users refuse to consent to sharing their data, businesses will struggle to gather useful analytics that can be used to inform their business practices. In addition, there are large fines associated with the misuse of data that corporations may face for a number of different violations.

InfoTrust advises that businesses migrate to cookieless tracking methods of collecting data, and begin to prompt their users with registration to promote more voluntary and legal sharing and collecting of data. This privacy centric measurement methodology is beneficial to both businesses and consumers alike, as it protects user privacy without sacrificing data quality, and harnesses the power of data, lawfully.

Data Collection in a Post-Cookie World
Source: InfoTrust