Cookies and trackers

Your homepage loads trackers, tools that measure visits or show ads by recording what visitors do, and we don't see a cookie notice or consent tool. This is a guide: we only look at the homepage, before anything is clicked.

In California and a growing number of states, visitors must be told about tracking and be able to opt out of the sale or sharing of their data for advertising, and visitors from the EU or UK must opt in before non-essential trackers load. Trackers without a notice are a common reason for complaints. It's a compliance gap rather than a break-in.

It isn't an attack. A visitor, a consumer group or a competitor notices your site records visits with no notice, and sends a complaint. You then have to show what you collect and what visitors were told, which is hard without a notice.

Ward reads your homepage again and looks for a consent tool. Mark the finding as “Pending verification” and Ward will check it again within a minute or two. Once the problem is gone, it moves to “Resolved” on its own.

vosotros

Your site has a Google consent system, but some trackers load directly in the page, without the blocking that consent tools normally apply. It can be fine if consent is applied another way, such as inside Google Tag Manager. This is a guide only.

It may mean the trackers switch on before the visitor chooses, which is what privacy rules are about. Or it may be set up correctly and we can't see it from the homepage. That's why the severity is low and the first step is to check.

It isn't an attack. If the trackers really do start before consent, a visitor who declined cookies is still recorded. If they complain, you'd have to show that your tool actually stopped them.

Ward reads your homepage again. Mark the finding as “Pending verification” and Ward will check it again within a minute or two. Once the problem is gone, it moves to “Resolved” on its own.

Your IT person

Your website's very first response, before the visitor does anything, already places tracking cookies in their browser. Cookies are small files the site leaves in the browser, and these ones serve analytics or advertising. This is a guide only.

Privacy rules expect visitors to be told, and in some places to agree, before tracking cookies are set. Cookies installed on arrival are what a complaint usually points to. It's a compliance matter, and the fix is usually a setting in your consent tool.

It isn't an attack. A visitor opens your site, declines everything and later finds the tracking cookies were already there. If they complain, the cookies prove that tracking started before they could decide.

Ward reads the cookies of your homepage's first response again. Mark the finding as “Pending verification” and Ward will check it again within a minute or two. Once the problem is gone, it moves to “Resolved” on its own.

Your IT person