Consumers expect data privacy, or the ability to decide for themselves how their personal information is collected, stored, used, and communicated to others. While there is no single set of guidelines for the appropriate handling of personal, confidential or financial information, recent laws and regulations throughout the world have attempted to define the steps that advertisers must take to respect the privacy of individuals whose information they obtain.
Among the laws and organizations that are protecting individuals’ privacy is the PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) which regulates the use of cookies that store or gain access to information on a user’s device and associated consent. Typically, consumers provide their consent to cookies via a pop up when visiting an advertiser’s site. Users therefore have the ability to opt out of affiliate tracking via the cookie consent banner when landing on an advertiser site from a partner’s site.
However, as of October 2024, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) indicates consent is no longer required for loyalty, points or cash back partners provided that the cookie meets necessary exemption criteria:
- The cookie is for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic network; or
- Where storage or access to a cookie is strictly necessary for the provision of a service that has been requested by the user or subscriber.
In summary, if storage or access to a cookie is strictly necessary for the provision of a service that has been requested by the user, cookie consent is not required.
Partnerize recognizes that brands control whether to store cookies against the end-user, therefore, brands must make an independent decision to determine how to interpret, handle, and store affiliate cookies on their own sites. Accordingly, it is the brand’s responsibility to determine how they wish to comply if a customer opts out of cookie consent, however, it should be noted that Partnerize relies on the use of cookies to track conversions referred by partners. In the absence of affiliate-related cookies due to consent management opt-outs, affiliate tracking could be disrupted.
With this in mind, to support advertisers in equitably rewarding partners that provide loyalty, points or cash back to consumers that opt into their services, Partnerize enables advertisers to append partner type to tracking. As a result, advertisers ensure persistent tracking by overriding cookie acceptance opt-in exclusively for cashback and loyalty partners.
Learn more about cookie consent via the ICO. Or, get in touch to learn how Partnerize supports advertisers amidst evolving privacy and cookie-based changes.
