Is your cookie consent banner compliant with privacy laws?

Getting individual consent from users is an essential aspect of customer data collection for organizations around the world. With the growing focus on privacy laws and regulation, more importance has been placed on getting authorization from individuals in order to process their personal data. Most global privacy laws now require organizations to get user consent before using tracking technologies such as cookie consent plugins, cookie consent popups, and cookie consent banners.

Let's take a closer look at cookie consent laws and examples of cookie consent banners used for obtaining user consent. 

What is a cookie consent banner?

A cookie consent banner is a type of cookie notification that is activated when a user visits a website. The banner explicitly asks for users’ consent before using cookies. This differs from earlier versions of cookie banners in that it doesn’t just inform users about the use of cookies. Instead, it asks their permission to employ cookies. 

Cookie consent banners have to be easily accessible and visible, and the text of the banner must be stated in clear, unambiguous language that the average user can understand. 

Why are cookie consent banners important?

Cookie consent banners must be easily accessible and visible, with clear, unambiguous language understandable to the average user. They are crucial for complying with various privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, which mandate explicit user consent for data tracking.

Read more: Cookie consent opt-in

Do I need a cookie consent banner in the US?

In the US, a cookie consent banner isn't always required by federal law, but it's recommended to comply with state laws like California's CCPA. A consent banner enhances transparency, builds user trust, and prepares for potential future regulations, making it a best practice.

Examples of cookie consent banners

Cookie consent banners need to have some common elements, such as specific cookie banner text and cookie consent banner code. However, organizations also have some freedom in their design choices. Here are some cookie consent examples that demonstrate proper use of these banners.

Footer cookie consent banner examples

One of the most popular cookie consent examples is using a cookie banner at the footer of a website’s homepage. This saves space on the page so users can still see your homepage and all the information you display there. It doesn’t create as much visual obstruction for visitors as other banners do. 

Popup cookie banner

Popup cookie banners pop up in the center of the website when a user lands on the site. They work well because they grab the user’s attention immediately. Popup cookie banners can be very effective when you are looking for visitor consent before they access any content on your website. Users have to accept or reject the cookie notice in order to explore further on your website. 

Top header cookie banner

The top header cookie banner appears in a website’s header. It can be a great choice for sites with visitors that spend a lot of time in the header area, such as news sites. On this kind of site, visitors look at the top of the page to find the section they want to visit, so they will naturally see the cookie message examples while searching for the content they want. 

Corner box

This type of CCPA cookie banner is displayed in one corner of a website. Users need to view the cookie policy and take action in order to explore the content of that site. 

Read more: How to create a compliant and user-friendly website cookie notice

Free cookie consent banners

There are many ways to design a free cookie banner for your site. Organizations can use a cookie banner generator to design a cookie consent banner free of charge. Cookie consent managers provide automated solutions for cookie laws and help to make life easier by automatically handling the requirements necessary for cookie consent. Using these solutions can help eliminate risk, collapse costs, and enable data-driven growth by obtaining customer consent to collect and use data. 

Go further: Get Ketch free and start collecting consent in 5 minutes of less

It’s important to set up a banner like this, but you can also use cookie plugins for WordPress to scan your site to detect and categorize your WordPress site’s cookies. These plugins can then generate a cookie policy and customizable cookie banner. 

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Understanding GDPR cookie consent

These days, organizations have to consider how to enforce and respect users' consent choices across an entire data ecosystem — not just on a user’s initial visit to their website. Businesses use cookie consent banner code to obtain consent in one specific context. In today’s world, customers interact with brands in myriad channels and mediums. Businesses need to orchestrate and connect a customer’s acceptance or rejection of cookies as data flows through a business and flows down to second and third parties and beyond.  

With GDPR cookie consent law and third-party cookie deprecation in the works, companies need to act fast to implement better consent solutions and comply with a vast patchwork of regulatory and consumer expectations. GDPR cookie banner examples demonstrate compliance with EU regulations, but there is no underlying effort to recognize a customer’s intent, or to apply their preferences beyond the scope of their initial interaction. The user accepts or rejects cookie collection, but the organization has no understanding of what specific data collection is or isn’t acceptable to a given customer. 

Read more: What are some GDPR cookie consent examples?

A modern consent management platform should obtain deeper insights into what customers really want their data to be used for. Instead of getting a narrow consent signal, the best consent management platforms allow you to capture consent preferences according to data purposes. This means asking people for preferences aligned to the purpose for which the company will use their data, such as:

• Analytics
• Advertising
• Improving a product or service
• Tailoring a product or service toward specific demographics
• Providing an improved experience across multiple devices
• Enhanced customer support 

Go further: Cookie compliance: Ensure your website meets privacy laws

Benefits of using Ketch for cookie compliance

Ketch eliminates complexity by taking a modern, data-centric approach to privacy management. We focus on making privacy and compliance simple, regardless of privacy law or governance mandate. With Ketch, you get all of the following:

• One simple framework for defining acceptable use of any type of data
• One-on-one support with privacy experts
• Plug-and-play templates for cookie disclosures and consent
• Configurable website tags that take as little as five minutes to set up

Effective cookie consent banners are crucial for regulatory compliance and enhancing user trust. By implementing user-friendly and compliant banners, organizations can ensure they meet privacy law requirements while providing a positive user experience.

For more insights into cookie consent and privacy management, explore our comprehensive resources.