Cashback & Reward Sites Consent Management

Disclaimer: It is the advertiser's sole responsibility as the data controller, to establish and enforce consent rules on their services. This guide provides information to help you make informed decisions but does not constitute legal advice. Please always seek formal legal advice on your specific setup.

Consent management refers to informing users about tracking, obtaining their explicit consent, and honouring their choices. In affiliate marketing, tracking data is essential for measuring campaign performance and attributing results. However, tracking activities must align with privacy laws, requiring transparency and user consent unless exemptions apply.

Guidelines for Loyalty and Reward Publishers

In Autumn 2024, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) clarified cookie consent requirements under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) for tracking transactions in cashback, loyalty publishers, and other reward-based business models. The ICO confirmed that cookies used to track purchases and deliver rewards are "strictly necessary," as they enable the service consumers sign up for.

ICO Ruling Details

The ICO established that cookies for reward services, such as cashback or loyalty programs, are deemed "strictly necessary" under PECR. This classification applies because such cookies are essential for delivering a service explicitly requested by the user.
These cookies are exempt from consent requirements if their use is strictly limited to delivering the requested service.
If cookies are used for secondary purposes beyond the essential service, the exemption no longer applies.
See Can the use of cookies for providing a reward service qualify the cookies as ‘strictly necessary’, exempting them from the consent requirement under PECR?

The ICO ruling applies explicitly to the UK market. Compliance with campaigns in non-UK markets depends on local regulations and legal guidance should always be taken. Advertisers should consider adopting flexible tracking solutions, like Webgains’ resilient tracking, which aligns with diverse legal requirements across regions. Get in touch with us to find out more.

Practical Implications for Advertisers

Tracking Setup: Advertisers must ensure tracking systems align with ICO’s guidance. Review existing setups to confirm compliance, and implement tracking systems that strictly align with "necessary" cookie use. See below for implementing Exceptions with Webgains.
Internal Communication: Inform your legal and tech teams about this information and make adjustments to your CMP if necessary.
Publisher Collaboration: Work with publishers to confirm alignment of their tracking requirements.

By adhering to these practices, advertisers and publishers can maintain compliance while maximising the efficiency of their affiliate marketing campaigns.

How to Implement Cookie/Consent Rules for Cashback or Loyalty Only

Webgains allows advertisers to implement consent rules by leveraging the landing page URL parameters outlined below.

Tracking Configuration Update: Webgains’ will provide the “Channel” parameter in its tracking links to display the Channel Type of that campaign. By default, for cashback & loyalty campaigns the "channel" parameter in the URL will contain the values Cashback or Closed Loyalty Group.
URL Encoding: Ensure these parameter values are URL-encoded, e.g., channel=cashback or channel=closed%20loyalty%20group.
Parameter Validation: Validate that the parameter values provided in the landing page URL (above) align with services deemed "strictly necessary." This ensures only eligible channels & campaigns will trigger the exception in your CMP.

For any further queries please contact your Webgains Account Manager or support@webgains.com

Managing consent for specific Campaigns

Advertisers can also use the specific campaign ID included in landing page URLs, to manage consent levels and consent exceptions. By default, Webgains provides the campaign ID as part of the landing page URL using the parameter “cname”. N.B.: If the siteidis already included as a click-through parameter on your account we will not show cname you must use this instead to identify the unique campaign.

See https://knowledgehub.webgains.com/home/webgains-dynamic-clickthrough-parameters for more info.

For example, to manage the consent level for a specific campaign such as TopCashback UK see below.

Identifying TopCashback Traffic

To ensure that cookies used for TopCashback are classified as strictly necessary, the URL parameter &cname=4491 should be monitored in the landing page URLs. This parameter signifies a link associated with TopCashback was clicked and allows the cookie to be created under the strictly necessary guidelines listed above.

Publisher Considerations

Publishers do not typically need to alter their links or accounts, provided the tracking technology complies with the ICO’s ruling.
Cashback and loyalty publishers will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the "strictly necessary" cookie logic.

Read more: How does Consent Management affect my Affiliate Program? and get familiar with The Publisher Landscape