How global data privacy laws affect user tracking strategies

Wonder how to balance privacy and marketing? Need help figuring out what data privacy laws might affect your business? You’re in the right place. This post will cover the most crucial privacy regulations and discuss their impact on tracking strategies. We will also dive into complaint customer data tracking and explain how Stape can help comply with data protection requirements while keeping your user engagement monitoring precise.

This article will discuss all types of privacy laws and how to customize your tracking. Jump to: “how to use server-side tracking and stay compliant successfully” section now.

Data protection and privacy laws - macro perspective

Data protection and privacy laws are evolving around the world. These laws form a comprehensive data protection framework that varies from country to country. Look at the map below to get a comprehensive view of the situation.

Image description: Data protection laws by country

The more forward-thinking and digital the country is, the more its governments and citizens are concerned with data privacy. You might need to follow different data protection guidelines based on the region you market and sell to. Let’s closely examine the ones that influence the major markets.

Definition of data protection

Data protection refers to the policies, procedures, and technologies to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, corruption, or loss. It involves a combination of administrative, technical, and physical controls to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. These measures protect personal, sensitive, and biometric data from potential threats, ensuring that information remains secure and private.

Importance of data protection

Data protection is more critical than ever. With the increasing prevalence of cyber threats, data breaches, and unauthorized access, safeguarding sensitive information is crucial. Effective data protection measures can help prevent financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities. Moreover, data protection is essential for maintaining customer trust, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, and protecting intellectual property.

Data protection vs. data privacy

While often used interchangeably, data protection and data privacy are distinct concepts. Data protection focuses on the technical and administrative measures safeguarding data, such as encryption, access controls, and data security protocols.

On the other hand, data privacy concerns individuals' rights and expectations regarding collecting, using, and sharing their personal information. It involves ensuring that individuals have control over their data and that their privacy is respected. 

Understanding the difference between data protection and privacy is crucial for businesses to manage customer data tracking and comply with privacy regulations effectively.

⚠️Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Please consult a legal professional for any legal matters.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of rules that control what personal information websites can collect from users and how they must manage, store, and use that data. The rules are divided into 99 articles based on fundamental data protection principles that ensure fair and lawful processing of personal data. The GDPR applies to European organizations that process the personal data of individuals in the EU and to organizations outside the EU that target people living in the EU.

GDPR came into force on May 25, 2018. While the main principles are the same across Europe, each country can adjust the rules to meet specific needs. This is why knowing how GDPR applies in your country is essential.

It’s also important to understand that GDPR affects businesses and websites outside Europe, including those in the USA and Asia. Even if your website is visited by someone not from Europe, you still need to follow GDPR rules.

Cookies fall under the GDPR even though they only mention cookies once in Recital 30.

Under GDPR, cookies are considered personal data because they can identify users. Therefore, if GDPR applies to you, obtaining cookie consent is essential. Companies can process users’ data if they can justify it with a legitimate interest. For example, processing customer data for direct marketing is considered a legitimate interest.

The GDPR grants individuals several new privacy rights to give them more control over their data. This enables better personal data protection. Understanding these rights is crucial for ensuring GDPR compliance. If your business is subject to GDPR, data protection must be a core consideration in all your processes, both “by design and by default.” Consult legal experts to help you navigate the 88-page regulation.

The ePrivacy Directive and the upcoming ePrivacy Regulation also support GDPR. Let’s explore these further.

ePrivacy Directive

The ePrivacy Directive, initially passed in 2002 and updated in 2009, is often called the “cookie law” because it led to the widespread use of cookie consent pop-ups. It complements GDPR and sometimes takes precedence over it by focusing on the confidentiality of electronic communications and user tracking.

The ePrivacy Directive provides detailed guidelines on how users should be informed about and consent to collecting their electronic data. It emphasizes the responsibility of companies to collect and manage this data from users properly.

Companies must also conduct a data protection impact assessment to evaluate the risks associated with data processing activities.

See the main points of the ePrivacy Directive below:

• Requires user cookie consent for storing cookies.
• Ensures confidentiality of electronic communications.
• Regulates and requires consent for unsolicited communications.
• Sets rules for processing traffic and location data.
• Empowers users to control their personal data use.

ePrivacy Regulation

The ePrivacy Regulation, often discussed alongside the ePrivacy Directive, is different. It transforms the ePrivacy Directive into a binding law, making compliance mandatory and enforcing penalties for data privacy violations.

Ensuring data protection compliance is crucial for avoiding penalties and maintaining user trust.

The ePrivacy Regulation is nearing its final stages of development. It aims to establish more precise rules regarding the use of cookies.

See the main points of ePrivacy Regulation below:

• Cookie consent. Requires explicit user consent for cookies and tracking.
• Communication privacy. Protects the confidentiality of electronic communications.
• Direct marketing. Regulates unsolicited electronic marketing, needing user consent.
• User control. Enhances user control over data and privacy settings.
• Global reach. Applies to non-EU services targeting EU users.

As of September 2024, the ePrivacy Regulation has still not been finalized.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

If your business operates in California, you must understand CCPA compliance, use a consent management platform to manage consumer rights and conform to local data privacy regulations. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) could impact how your website is permitted to manage the personal information of California residents.

Appointing a data protection officer can help businesses manage compliance with CCPA and other data privacy regulations.

The CCPA gives consumers more control over the personal information that businesses collect from them. The CCPA rules guide businesses in following the law.

This critical law gives California consumers several vital rights:

• The right to know what personal information a business collects, how it’s used, and who it’s shared with.
• The right to ask for their personal information to be deleted (with some exceptions).
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information.
• The right to not be mistreated for using their CCPA rights.

In November 2020, California voters passed Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). This act changed and added to the CCPA with more privacy protections, which started on January 1, 2023.

From this date, consumers gained new rights, such as:

• The right to correct wrong personal information that a business has about them.
• The right to limit how their sensitive personal information is used and shared.

Businesses that follow the CCPA must respond to consumer requests to use these rights and give clear information about their privacy practices. The CCPA applies to many companies, including data brokers.

California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)

The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which took effect in January 2023, expands and updates the CCPA, giving consumers more rights. Since the CPRA doesn’t create a new law, it is usually called the “CCPA” or “CCPA, as amended.”

The CPRA introduces several critical changes to the CCPA:

1. New consumer rights. It adds rights to correct personal information and limits the use of sensitive data.
2. Sensitive data category. It introduces “sensitive personal information” with additional protections.
3. Data retention limits. It requires businesses to disclose and limit how long they keep personal data.
4. New enforcement agency. It establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) for enforcement. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) is the data protection authority responsible for enforcing the CPRA.
5. Broader data sharing rules. It extends opt-out rights to include sharing, not just selling, personal data.
6. Higher business threshold. It applies to businesses handling data of 100,000 or more consumers, up from 50,000.

These changes make the CPRA more comprehensive than the CCPA.

Other data privacy laws

Other important privacy and data protection laws exist worldwide. Below are the most influential ones to consider.

A lot to keep track of while working with customer data, isn’t it? We recommend seeking professional legal advice for any business handling the personal data of their users.

Digital marketing and privacy: how to stay compliant and successful?

Navigating privacy regulations while staying on top of your sales and marketing efforts is challenging. User data privacy in marketing is a hot topic that can be approached from different angles. A robust data protection strategy is essential for navigating privacy regulations while maintaining effective marketing efforts. At Stape, we believe that turning to server-side tracking and first-party data is a strategic visionary move a business should take to stay ahead of the competition.

Here’s how it works and why it’s essential.

First-party data

One of the best ways of preparing for the cookie limitations due to privacy laws is to switch to first-party data. First-party data is the information you gather directly from your customers through your channels. It includes all the details you collect about how customers engage with your business using the tools and interactions you control.

Strong data protection measures can help businesses safeguard the first-party data they collect.

This data allows you to enhance personalization and strengthen your customer relationships. You can also refine targeting by leveraging customer behavior and purchase history.

Server-side tracking

Server-side tracking involves collecting and processing data on your servers rather than relying on third-party services. This method provides greater control over the data you collect and its use, which is crucial for privacy compliance. Server-side tracking offers adequate data protection solutions, providing greater data collection and usage control. Proper server GTM setup with the right solution and power-ups can help you comply with GDPR rules in several ways.

Final thoughts

Regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and CPRA require you to manage collecting and sharing information about your site visitors carefully. Sharing any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with third-party vendors is prohibited.

Data protection best practices can help businesses ensure compliance and protect user data effectively.

With server-side tracking, you have complete control over the data flow, ensuring that each vendor only receives the specific information you’ve configured in your server-side tags. Get Stape for free today and ensure your server-side tracking is compliant and secure!