Consent management platforms (CMP) are used by companies to legally document and manage a user’s consent choices prior to collecting, sharing, or selling user data from online sources such as websites and apps that use cookies, embedded videos, and other tracking technologies.
CMP tools provide end users with detailed information on how their online behavior may be tracked, the purposes for which that information is collected, and the specific vendors and entities requesting to use the information. CMPs then provide users the explicit choice to grant, refuse, or revoke consent to having their online behavior collected, used, or sold by all or specific parties listed. CMP providers have a legal basis to store user consent data, which then allows them to pass consent information to third parties like advertising, publishing, and other partners prior to lawful data processing.
A company’s legal and marketing teams use CMP software to ensure their companies comply with global privacy regulations such as the European Union’s GDPR. CMP software often integrates with marketing software such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, marketing automation software, customer data platform (CDP) software, and other analytical tools.
To qualify for inclusion in the Consent Management Platform (CMP) category, a product must:
Provide legally required notices to users about what data is processed, which specific entities process the data, for which purposes, under which legal justification, and other legal requirements required by various privacy regulations
Offer a dashboard for users to grant, refuse, or revoke consent
Create and share granular consent records with entities relying on CMP data, such as advertising and publishing partners, to enable and demonstrate lawful data processing
