The traceability of consent: Pillar of transparency and prerequisite for information sharing?

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Didomi's solutions process over 2 billion consent signals every day. As the functional value of third-party cookies gradually diminishes, consent traceability emerges as an indispensable capability, integral to data sharing and enrichment. Consequently, this traceability is a major concern for organizations aiming to maintain a high level of marketing and advertising operations. It forms the foundation upon which unified consent can be built.

Why is consent traceability important?

The ability to trace consent is essential for compliance and respecting user choices, but it is also crucial for all stakeholders in the marketing and advertising technology (MAdtech) chain. It holds value for different stakeholders within a company, aligning internal operations with regulatory frameworks and facilitating data exchange or audits externally. These audits are increasing because collected consents and an organization’s ability to prove them are fundamental aspects of its value.

However, it is a prerequisite for any form of information sharing, ensuring that all parties can trust that every aspect of personal data collection and usage complies with the explicit intentions of the user. Whether granting, withdrawing, or modifying consents, this traceability ensures that resulting data usages respect user preferences. Finally, this traceability is critical as it forms the foundation for various remediation initiatives and technologies in response to the disappearance of third-party cookies in Chrome.

Remediation to the disappearance of third-party cookies

Two major approaches are emerging and mutually enriching:

• Data Modeling: This allows for partial reconstruction of missing data and the creation of operational references (e.g., Google Consent Advanced Mode).
• Data Sharing: This promotes the circulation and enrichment of data among different actors, relying on technologies such as Customer Data Platforms (for first-party data and event storage) and Data Clean Rooms (for granular and compliant personal data sharing).

Both approaches require prior user consent to be activated, making the "consent rate" a central issue. The higher the consent rate, the larger and richer the pool of available personal data.

What is consent lineage?

Consent lineage can be seen as a history of collected consents, their purposes or usages, and the vendors or participants authorized for these shares. Consent lineage ensures that each consent data point is based on verifiable and shareable proof for various actors in the value chain.

Benefits for businesses include:

• Proving to all parties the "value" of consent and its scope.
• Enriching and modeling first-party data with third-party data.
• Exchanging and pooling data sets for multiple purposes (AI, etc.).
• Providing proof of collected consent during exchanges or regulator audits.

For users, consent lineage allows: 

• Clear understanding of which organizations have obtained their consent and for what purposes.
• Control over the consents given and, consequently, their withdrawal.
• Strengthened trust between the brand and the user.

What’s next for the future?

Implementing consent logs (consent lineage) according to a reference taxonomy within marketing technologies will improve the overall performance of digital operations, providing any organization adopting this principle with the ability to maximize user adherence.

Consent traceability associated with an ID and its status will soon be integrated into the customer data assets of the company within Customer Data Platforms, Unified Customer Repositories, or any other chosen tool. These logs will be available to Didomi's clients for their data exchanges with third parties.

We believe that consent traceability is not just about compliance but represents a fundamental shift toward establishing a more transparent, responsible, and trustworthy digital space.