Cookie consent policies: Informed consent translation requirements

While the internet makes it easy for users worldwide to visit your site, that doesn’t mean English is the preferred language of said users. Though the language is widely spoken, not everyone who comes to your site can understand it (fluently or otherwise).

This is especially important to consider if your site uses cookies: It’s best practice to provide cookie consent dialogue and policies to visitors in their preferred language. Why? Valid consent must be informed, and it can’t be informed if it can’t be understood.

The European Union’s ePrivacy Directive, also known as the “Cookie Law,” requires informed consent before storing most cookies on a user’s device and/or tracking them. Under Article 5 of the directive, consent requires that the user has been “provided with clear and comprehensive information” about the purposes of the cookie. The first step in communicating clear information is to make sure the recipient of that information — your website’s visitor — can understand it.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also requires that a request for consent be given in an intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language. Recital 42 of the GDPR posits that, in order for consent to be informed, the data subject must be made aware of why your company is processing their data.

The easiest way to achieve consent? Language preferences

When it comes to protecting a customer’s right to privacy — while simultaneously retrieving data needed to create effective marketing campaigns — marketers have a tricky job at hand. Particularly when it comes to cookie consent pop-ups.

These must not only be specific to a data subject’s location, but they must also be in that subject’s preferred language. And, as Recital 58 of the GDPR suggests, visualization may even be necessary to avoid a data subject’s struggles in understanding or misconstruing concepts like online advertising.

Luckily, cookie consent tools are available. These help marketers customize their consent pop-ups so that they do, in fact, cater to a data subject’s geographic location and preferred language.

Tools like Osano’s also track a user’s consent over time, yielding reliable consent record-keeping relative to cookies. And because GDPR regulations change from country to country, this is a vital tool.

Obtain valid consent today with the use of a consent management platform, and skip the worry, hassle, and potential penalties that come with non-compliance.