Is your business also using an app to sell or communicate with your customers?
Then there are a couple of things you should know about tracking and compliance.
Here we explain what a professional Mobile App Consent solution is and how you can collect your usersâ consent with it.
A mobile app consent solution is a tool that gives you the ability to collect your usersâ consents on your mobile applications.
It is a software development kit (SDK) that can be installed into your app like other SDKâs you might be using like for example Googleâs Firebase.
The SDK collects your usersâ consents in the same way your website does and is required to by international privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
This allows you to ensure your usersâ privacy when using your app.
After your usersâ have given consent, we securely store the consent so you can – at any time â retrieve it if you need to document consents to the authorities. Â
Or any personal information you â or a third-party SDK â would like to collect with your app.
Because… privacy regulations.
Yes, regulations like the GDPR, ePrivacy and the Californian CCPA all require that you obtain your usersâ consent before you collect their personal information.
Information that in many cases are shared with – and processed by – third parties for marketing purposes.
And now that many businesses, maybe also yours, have developed a mobile-first strategy, it becomes increasingly important also to focus on your app usersâ privacy.
So, hereâs a short overview in non-legal language on how you can comply with these privacy regulations in your app.
Cookie Information can help your business achieve all these goals.
With the Mobile App Consent SDK, your business app can be a first mover in the world of mobile app privacy.
Link: What is the GDPR?
Like on your website, youâd also like to know who uses your app, what they like and how you can target them with personalized ads.
For that, you may use an SDK like StoreKit, Firebase Analytics or AdMob that gives you some insights on user behavior and performance.
The SDKâs of course collect your usersâ personal data like device ID and location to show you these metrics.
But it doesnât stop there! These SDKâs may also collect more detailed personal identifiable information (PII) like email addresses, phone numbers, usernames and addresses if available through trackers.
For example, Googleâs mobile development platform, the Firebase SDK offers marketeers a lot of exiting opportunities.
Since Firebase integrates easily with other Google advertising tools like Google Ads, Google Analytics etc., it can deliver you a lot of data that you can use for marketing.
However, Firebase Google also collects and processes your usersâ data (device IDs, Android Ad ID, Ad identifiers for iOS, interest and demographic data).
And that requires consent.
Firebase is a Software Development Kit (SDK) that app developers install in their apps to give them a range of tools for performance monitoring, crash reporting and analytics etc.
It is one of the most popular SDK's for both Android and iOS and also a necessity for using Google Analytics and other of Googleâs services for apps. Like many of Google products, Firebase SDK is a free platform.
Mobile apps do not use cookies the way websites do. They use something called Software Development Kits (SDK), for example Googleâs Firebase SDK.
These SDK’s still collect information which can be categorized similarly to the purposes that cookies have i.e., necessary purposes, functional, statistical and marketing purposes.
And each app has a specific purpose.
Then, if you are using an SDK in your app like Appleâs StoreKit, Googleâs Firebase or AdMob, then the SDK will harvest your usersâ personal data and send it back to the SDK.
Well, apps donât really store your usersâ consent. Consent Management Platforms do.
When you implement a Mobile App Consent SDK into your app, then all consents are collected â also when users decline â and stored in a Consent Management Platform (CMP).
In a CMP, letâs use ours as example, you can register anything you need to collect consent for.
That can be anything you are required to collect consent for by the GDPR or any other local privacy regulation*.
Once you have implemented the Mobile App Consent SDK and given the platform information about which other SDKs you use, the app can start collecting consents. And then we store the consents.
Should you and your app end up in an audit by the Data Protection Authorities, we provide the necessary documentation and consent logs.
*We can help collect consent for anything: age restrictions, newsletter subscriptions, membership clubs, tracking, policy updates, you name it.
You decide! You can style your consent banner for your app any way you like it. You can customize it, you can personalize it, you can add logo, change color, write the text. Thereâs no end to the possibilities.
This gives you the freedom to make your app consent solution fit your company UX.
Or, if you want a standard, yet super solid, template.. then we are working on it.Â
First of all, we have developed a Mobile App Consent Solution that we are proud of.
It is easy to implement for you or your app developer; it satisfies your legal department as it is GDPR, ePrivacy and CCPA compliant; and finally, it is geared for obtaining a high number of consents to tracking.
Hereâs a more thorough implementation guide for developers. Read it, share it, comment on it.
Joining our Mobile App Consent program will enable you to collect and document valid consents on your mobile apps.
PRODUCTS
* Log into Consent Management to access your Website Consent Banner and Mobile App account. Log into Privacy & Compliance to access Data Discovery and Data Subject Request.