C is For Cookie and Compliance

by Daniel Zacks on January 15, 2019

I was checking out a certain website the other night (which I won’t call out here) when a peculiar message popped up. I’ve noticed many different layouts and versions of “Our website uses third-party tracking and cookies, to learn about it click here”, but this one was in its own category.

The main message of this website’s cookie message is that it is GDPR’s fault that we all must comply with negative and annoying regulations, including our website’s cookies. The way it’s written reminds me of when I was in 3rd grade and my friend told me “Teacher said we all have to write dates on our assignments from now on”. As a third grader, that sucks. In my head, it was an unnecessary burden, a pointless waste of my efforts. Looking back, with wider perspective, I can see how writing a date on every paper (document, assignment) is unquestionably necessary. My point is I don’t think we should be looking at GDPR as the “bad guy”. I truly wonder if this is a common form of thinking in these early stages of understanding what GDPR does.

GDPR was given to us as a present, in this ever-changing world. Suddenly, the individual’s privacy is protected. Every business that holds an individual’s personal data must now be accountable for what they do with it, who they share it with, and exactly what they are tracking. It may be a slight burden on your company, but as a business, your highest priority should be your customers.

And one more thing. Regulations are coming to America, they have already set sail from Europe, and are scheduled to reach California’s harbors in January 2019. CCPA is on its way, bringing even stricter rules. A customer will be entitled to know exactly what you have done with his personal data. Only an automated system that gives you a fully holistic view of your data, shows how it’s moving internally and externally, and updates in virtually real-time can give you what you need to be compliant.

Any measure we can take to protect our customers should be viewed as a positive thing. The extra burden it gives us can easily be resolved with new.1touch.io’s DLM Pro. DLM Pro tracks known and unknown data, whether structured or not, and whether in motion or at rest.