What Is Consent Management? How to Protect Visitor Privacy

In an increasingly digital world, staying safe and protecting personal data online is becoming both harder and more important than ever. Users want to control who gets their data and how it’s used. Website owners want to use that data to close a deal and improve their business as a whole.

But before businesses can begin collecting and using customer data, they need to get consent from the consumers providing it–and the easiest way is with simple consent management tools. Keep reading to learn why you should implement consent management and how to get started.

What Is Consent Management?

Consent management is the practice of collecting, managing, and storing user consent to adhere to data protection laws. Businesses use this data to engage potential customers, personalize website experiences, and analyze user behavior to help improve their marketing and conversion rate optimization practices.

Consent requests are usually presented in the form of banners or pop-ups that ask visitors to choose which data to share, which can include cookies, trackers, and data-sharing methods. They can choose to accept everything, reject everything, accept only necessary cookies for site performance, and multiple other options. Some tools even let them choose specific data to share individually.

Consent management exists to comply with expanding regulations around data privacy and users’ control over their data. Regulations like the GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California are just a few that businesses need to comply with to avoid costly fines and penalties.

Does Everyone Need to Practice Consent Management?

No, not every business or website needs to practice consent management legally. Informational websites that don’t collect user information through submission forms, checkout pages, social media integrations, ads, and other causes of trackers and cookies can avoid consent management. However, most sites collect or handle user data in some way.

What Are The Benefits of Consent Management?

Whether you’re required to implement consent management or not, it’s a good idea to use a consent management tool or platform whenever possible.

Here’s why:

• Improved Legal Compliance: Non-compliance with laws and regulations surrounding user consent can get expensive, so adding consent management protects your bottom line.
• More Customer Trust: If customers know you value their data privacy, they’re more likely to trust you with it and feel comfortable using your site.
• Reduced Data Breach Risk: By ensuring only necessary data is collected and processed, you reduce the chances and severity of data breaches.
• Adaptability to Changing Regulations: With laws constantly changing, using consent management now can save you a ton of headaches later on.

While consent management and data privacy assurance may sound complicated, it’s not as hard as it sounds to become compliant.

How to Implement Consent Management On Your Site

If you want to add consent management to your site, the easiest solution is to find a consent management platform (CMP). These all-in-one tools allow you to collect, manage, and store user data while often providing the tools for them to request their data to be deleted as well.

Customizable consent banners ensure you’re giving users the option to control what they share while you style it to fit your site’s theme. Some tools automatically adapt banners based on regulations and change which banners are presented based on geolocation information, saving you even more time and adding another layer of security.

Check out some free consent management tools on G2.

Let Watt Media Help Your Site Stay Data Privacy-Compliant

Creating, designing, and building your own site and running a business means you need to stay on top of laws and regulations like those surrounding data privacy. That’s why it’s best to work with experts like Watt Media to make sure your site is protected and efficient, improving your business as a whole.

At Watt Media, we can help you keep your site secure and compliant while generating more business. Get in touch with us today.