The GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, is a set of privacy rules created by the European Union. However, even if your website is not based in the EU, GDPR might still apply to you.
When you need a consent banner
You should include a consent banner (sometimes called a cookie banner) if both of these are true.
- Your site is visited by people from the EU or other countries with privacy regulations similar to GDPR (more on that later)
- It uses tools (or includes content!) that track non-essential data about your visitors. This means all data that is not strictly necessary for the website to run (more on that later)
When a consent banner is not needed
Not every website needs a banner. You can skip it if your site is only visited from countries where there are no GDPR-like regulations, OR your site:
- Does not collect non-essential data about your visitors
- Does not use any of the tools listed in the next section
- Only uses “essential cookies” (for example, cookies that remember what’s in a shopping cart or keep users logged in).
- Does not collect, store, or share visitor information.
In other words, if your site is purely informational and doesn’t track visitors in any way, then you don’t need a consent banner. But if you’re unsure, it’s safer to include one — transparency builds trust with visitors.
What tools can collect information about your site visitors
- Most of web-analytics tools
- Advertising platforms, like Google AdSense
- All marketing tools
- Embedded content, like YouTube videos, maps, forms, etc.
- Live chat applications
- Plugins that track visitors and send the data to other platforms (like Jetpack)
- WooCommerce (if you do not disable order attribution feature in its settings)
- CRM and marketing automation tools that have scripts installed on your website
- Google Fonts
What about other privacy laws?
You may have heard of other privacy rules like CCPA (California), LGPD (Brazil), or PIPEDA (Canada). These laws share the same goal as GDPR, but they differ slightly in scope.
If your website reaches people from different parts of the world, the safest practice is to follow the strictest standard. In most cases, that means complying with GDPR by asking for consent and being transparent about what you collect.
Final takeaway
Think of GDPR as a way to build trust, not just another legal hurdle. A clear consent banner tells visitors that you respect their choice and care about how their data is used. It’s good ethics and good business.
