Borlabs Cookie: The Intelligent Consent Management WordPress Plugin

Since the Coronavirus spread around the globe and negatively affected ad rates, many publishers’ priorities have shifted to survival-mode and figuring out how to weather the storm financially.

Not only that, but the pandemic has also caused some to lose focus on user privacy concerns. 18.9% of respondents on an IAB survey said the CCPA  would cause issues for their organizations in 2020; this is a large decrease from 52.7% in late 2018. Even the EU is loosening restrictions with data privacy due to preoccupation with the economic downturn from the virus. An example of this is with changes with GDPR on the processing of what the EU law calls “special categories” of personal information.

For example: France now allows the transfer of personal health data to “any partner involved in the control, prevention and evaluation of the epidemic, in particular the General Directorate of Health.”  In a similar fashion, Italy issued an ordinance permitting the processing of any personal health data “necessary for the performance of the civil protection function.”

Does this mean that just because the EU has loosened restrictions, publishers should not worry about users’ data consent and privacy? Absolutely not. Gartner has predicted that by 2023, 65% of the world’s population will have its personal data and information covered under tough privacy regulations, up from 10% currently.

So, what tool can publishers use to easily comply with user privacy rights laws like the GDPR and the CCPA? Ezoic’s GDPR and Consent Management App has been something we’ve offered Ezoic publishers for free. But for publishers who want total control over their consent management, there’s a German company named Borlabs whose Borlabs Cookie offers an intelligent solution to e-privacy in the form of a WordPress plugin.

Who is Borlabs?

Borlabs is a German-based technology company that designs products for eCommerce platforms as well as fully-customized WordPress systems and xt:commerce systems.

Since 2016, they develop Premium Plugins for WordPress. And before that, they created customized tools to optimize their clients’ processes since 2006, including APIs for ERPs and PSPs.

What is Borlabs Cookie?

Borlabs Cookie is an easy-to-use tool for WordPress that allows publishers to integrate a variety of cookies, such as retargeting cookies like Google AdSense via opt-in.

How does this work? JavaScript is activated and the cookie is sent only after your visitor gives their consent.

Simply put, it’s a WordPress plugin that helps publishers comply with the GDPR and E-privacy with over 129,000 active Installations

Additionally, Borlabs has two other products for publishers: Borlabs Cache and Borlabs Opt-In.

Borlabs Cookie Main Features

How does Borlabs Cookie differ from other consent management tools?

One of the primary features that makes Borlabs Cookie unique is the ability to block external content (i.e. YouTube or Twitter). While other consent management tools might offer a similar version of this, Borlabs’ Content Blocker performs better than other solutions. It also allows you to keep using your preferred plugins like MonsterInsights, WP Google Maps or PixelYourSite thanks to its Script Blocker which has the ability to block any JavaScript until your user gives their consent.

Borlabs Cookie is also independent of caching systems like Borlabs Cache or WP Rocket. Also, with Borlabs Cookies Cross-Domain Cookie function you can automatically transfer your users’ consent to other WordPress websites. For example: Opting-in on example.com can also set the consent cookie for my-example-shop.com.

Another standout feature is the detailed statistics of the given consents from users. Using a unique ID Publishers using Borlabs Cookie can see the Consent History of every visitor.

Additionally, publishers can see detailed consent statistics all in one place.

Note: Borlabs is a self-hosted consent management tool. What this means is that not even Borlabs “sees” the visitor IP and does not collect any data from the visitors. Self-hosted consent management systems are super rare in the publishing ecosystem, and Borlabs is proud to offer the highest level of privacy possible for the visitors of publishers who use its tool.

Upcoming Borlabs Cookie Features

• Cookie Scanner to automatically scan your website for active cookies
• TCF v2.0 support

Additionally, one of the major benefits for Ezoic publishers is that Borlabs Cookie is fully compatible with Ezoic. Ezoic publishers can follow this guide to connect Borlabs Cookie in the consent management section of your dashboard.