May 25, 2018

Does GDPR Mark The End For Cookies?

Time is up, GDPR has finally been introduced. The new legislation has raised questions among marketers about cookies and how these new rules will affect the traditionally one-sided value maker.

What Are The New Rules Regarding GDPR?

The EU General Data Protection Regulations only mention cookies once. Recital 30 of the GDPR states:

‘Natural persons may be associated with online identifiers […] such as internet protocol addresses, cookie identifiers or other identifiers […]. This may leave traces which, in particular when combined with unique identifiers and other information received by the servers, may be used to create profiles of the natural persons and identify them.’

This means, if cookies can identify a person via their device it is considered personal data. And most can. Therefore, advertising, analytics and tool cookies all must be complaint under GDPR -or stop collecting data.

How Will The GDPRs Influence Marketing Data?

Many experts believe there is an ‘adapt or die’ aspect to the new GDPRs. For example, when you visit a website, most will already ask for your consent to collect your data. However, GDPR strengthens these requirements, meaning it will be harder to obtain ‘legal consent’ than before.

Simply using an existing ‘this site uses cookies’ style pop-up and assuming consent will not cut it. Organisations must make it easy for people to opt-out and withdraw consent, if initially given, too. And if they don’t, huge fines and penalties could be implemented.

Despite these complications, we don’t think the number of sites using cookies is going to take a dive anytime soon. However, there may be a shift of power in regards to what data is collected by marketers, and how.

Particularly a nurturing of first-party data and existing users by delivering higher quality, relevant experiences. Brands will have to prove their worth to consumers in order to obtain the data which they once collected with ease. This could be done with the running of campaigns or competitions. However, brands will be required to prove that any collected data is relevant for this purpose.

Stay Up to Date On The Latest Marketing News

In order to stay up to date on the repercussions of this new legislation, as well as other happenings in the industry, attend one of our Figaro Digital marketing conference or check out a few more of our blog posts (shown below).