Great news for our Matomo users in France, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), has confirmed that Matomo can now be used to collect data without tracking consent.
There are specific conditions and measures that are necessary to ensure you can benefit from this exemption.
What does this mean for you?
By avoiding the use of consent screens (also known as consent banners) you can gain more visitors to your website and improve your data accuracy.
Many people will not enter and not opt-in when a website asks for tracking or cookie consent – which means you could be losing potential customers and be making decisions based on inaccurate data.
This is where Matomo Analytics can give you an advantage. Once configured correctly, you can use Matomo without needing any cookie or tracking consent.
What are the conditions of use?
You can use Matomo with tracking cookies under conditions, for visitors located in France.
This is an option for both Matomo Cloud and On-Premise versions.
The conditions are:
- Anonymise IP
- Disable Live Plugin (Real-time, visitor profile, etc.). Matomo Cloud users please make this update via ‘General Settings’
- Do not use the features “User ID“, Ecommerce, and Heatmaps/Session recordings.
- Let people opt-out from being tracked on a page of your website
- Don’t track personal data
CNIL consent exemption recommendations
In order to put in place solutions that respect people’s rights, the CNIL recommends that:
- Users are informed of the implementation of these tracers, for example via the privacy policy of the site or the mobile application
- The lifespan of the tracers is limited to a period allowing a relevant comparison of the audiences over time, as is the case with a period of thirteen months, and that it is not automatically extended during new visits
- The information collected through these tracers is kept for a maximum period of twenty-five months
A subcontractor can provide a comparative audience measurement service to multiple publishers if:
- The data is collected, processed and stored independently for each publisher
- The tracers are completely independent of each other and of any other tracer
How do I get started with Matomo?
- Read the full list of CNIL recommendations and guidelines
- If you’re not already using Matomo, start your free 21-day trial
- Follow the step-by-step Matomo configuration guide (FR). The English version of the configuration guide is here
About the CNIL
The CNIL is an independent administrative body that operates in accordance with the French data protection legislation. The CNIL has been entrusted with the general duty to inform people of the rights that the data protection legislation allows them.
The role and responsibilities of the CNIL are:
- to protect citizens and their data
- to regulate and control the processing of personal data
- to inspect the security of data processing systems and applications, and impose penalties
The CNIL runs a program to identify whether solutions have the available configuration elements to offer their customers an audience measurement offer exempt from the collection of consent.
Matomo has been identified as one of these solutions that can be configured to fall within the scope of the collection of consent exemptions.
Matomo and Privacy
At Matomo we love Privacy – our open analytics platform comes with built-in Privacy.
Try our online live demo now and start your free 21-day trial – no credit card required.
