Comparing Consent Management Platforms (CMP)

What are Consent Management Platforms (CMP)?

Today, using a consent management tool is practically a must for professional website or online shop operators of all business orientations and industries. With the help of such a program, permission is obtained from the users of an online presence to collect specific data from them. Without such consent or the informing of users about the use of personal data, not even functionally important cookies may be used in the era of GDPR. These are a part of every web presence - and often it is crucial for the success of online marketing to request much more information in addition. A consent management platform forms the basis for being able to proceed legally and rule out substantial penalties in such contexts.

These are popular Consent Management Platforms (CMP):

• Usercentrics

• OneTrust

• ConsentManager

• Borlabs Cookie

• Quantcast Choice

• Traffective Consent Management Tool

• CookieBot

Good Consent Management Providers bring the following features and advantages:

• They allow for GDPR-compliant consent to data collection or inform users of a web presence accordingly.

• A Consent Management Platform ideally offers a clear dashboard where users can transparently and easily give, deny or revoke consents.

• It supports the documentation and export of granular consent records in companies that rely on CMP data, and aids in lawful data processing or in providing evidence of such.

Who needs a Consent Management Tool?

To collect online data of any kind, clear consent from the users of corresponding websites, online shops, or even apps, from which information is requested, is required. A CMP helps to efficiently manage these consents. To determine whether you need a Consent Management Tool yourself, usually answering the following question is sufficient: Is any personal data collected on my web presence? In most cases, website, online shop or even blog operators must affirm this question. Because virtually every internet presence uses at least technical cookies, where personal data also plays a role. For a legally secure procedure, even the data protection regulations applicable in this context should be clearly communicated and confirmed by the users. The Consent Management Platform is the central medium of information and documentation for a long-term legally compliant procedure.

If one or more of the following facts apply to a website, an online shop, or an app, the use of a Consent Management Tool is particularly relevant, as even more differentiated information is requested from users:

• Use of personal information for highly data-driven marketing purposes, such as remarketing, content personalization, behavior-based advertising, email marketing and/or analytics.

• Automation of user decision control, for example using profiling.

• Transfer of information abroad - for example, organizations processing data from EU citizens due to their company location outside the EU.

If even one of these aspects applies to your own company, particular attention should generally be paid to sufficient consent management. There is an increased risk of violating the complex GDPR regulations and, in the worst-case scenario, having to face substantial penalties. The right Consent Management Platform offers many useful tools to minimize such risks. Ultimate security, however, cannot be provided by the best software alone. Comprehensive legal advice should always be sought in addition.

What advantages does a Consent Management Platform provide?

The Consent Management Platform is an important tool for obtaining consents from users to process and store personal information. Appropriate tools automatically request such approvals and ideally do so in a very trust-inspiring and convincing manner, so that the permission rate can be kept high. The Consent Management Tool ensures compliance with GDPR. More specifically, it can support the GDPR-related obligation to inform about the use of data. It also guarantees the clear consent of the users of online presences, which request data, that is so crucial for legal compliance.

What should one pay attention to when choosing a Consent Management Tool?

The following tips naturally only provide an overview of typically important features of a Consent Management Platform. To truly identify the perfect tool, normally company-specific factors, specifically the real needs, must be included. Simply choosing a Consent Management Provider that "does everything" is not economical.

Choose a GDPR-compliant Consent Management Provider

The Consent Management Tool of your choice should definitely operate in a GDPR-compliant manner. Sounds perhaps initially logical and absolutely expected from such programs, but the reality can look different. Not all Consent Management Platforms are geared towards the European market. To ensure safety here, you should pay attention to a clear note of GDPR or GDPR compatibility from the provider.

Choose a flexible Consent Management Platform

For a web presence to function optimally GDPR-compliant in the long term, the Consent Management Tool must be able to adapt to its individual design and layout. Smaller changes of individual elements or new structures should not make it impossible or incorrect to perform a consent query.

Make obtaining consent simple and clear

Every Consent Management Tool on the market can send consent requests to users of websites, apps, etc. However, as already mentioned, it is absolutely crucial for success to adapt the consent request to the respective audience. Furthermore, corresponding messages should always be clear and understandable to truly operate legally.

Documentation and verifiability of consents

Consents for data collection are absolutely required to be documented. They must be clearly verifiable especially in case of a legal dispute. Different CMPs store consents for different lengths of time. Some allow the period to be set individually, others operate with fixed values.

Support for implementation and beyond

There are sometimes major differences in the service area between the providers. Therefore, before purchasing a Consent Management Tool, it is essential to carefully consider what service requirements exist.

Consider areas of application and supported technologies

Not only for websites, consent for data collection and corresponding documentation are required! Also, providers of apps or games that request information from their users are obligated to do so. The coverage of mobile apps and other software by a CMP is not yet a matter of course for all operators.

What are the advantages of a Consent Management Platform?

The Consent Management Platform is an important tool for obtaining user consent to process and store personal information. Appropriate tools automatically and ideally very trust-worthily and convincingly request such confirmations, so that the rate of permission can be kept high.

What should you pay attention to when choosing a Consent Management Tool?

The following tips only provide a general overview of the typically important features of a Consent Management Platform.

Choose a GDPR-compliant Consent Management Provider

The chosen Consent Management Tool should always operate in compliance with GDPR.

Choose a flexible Consent Management Platform

For a web presence to function optimally GDPR-compliant in the long term, the Consent Management Tool must be able to adapt to its individual design and layout.

Make obtaining consent simple and clear

Every Consent Management Tool on the market can send consent requests to users of websites, apps, etc. However, as already mentioned, it is absolutely crucial for success to adapt the consent request to the respective audience.

Documentation and verifiability of consents

Consents for data collection are absolutely required to be documented. They must be clearly verifiable especially in case of a legal dispute.

Support for implementation and beyond

There are sometimes major differences in the service area between the providers.

Consider areas of application and supported technologies

Not only for websites, consent for data collection and corresponding documentation are required! Also, providers of apps or games that request information from their users are obligated to do so.