You may have received a flurry of emails recently from French companies or service providers talking about a mysterious “pixel de suivi”. This is what’s going on.
If you have subscriptions or accounts with French companies that regularly send you emails, you're likely to receive these kind of messages.
The messages in these emails are all variations on a theme of: “To provide you with the most relevant content, we use a tracking pixel [pixel de suivi] to measure the open rates of our emails. Data collected this way helps us improve your experience.”
This is not a scam.
The reason for the influx of emails is because, following a consultation period of almost a year, France’s Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) updated its recommendation regarding tracking pixels in emails on April 14th.
A tracking pixel is a small, invisible image embedded in an email. It allows the sender to measure audience reach and assess the effectiveness of their newsletters and email campaigns.
The pixels track:
- Whether the email was opened;
- When it was opened;
- What device the email was opened on (computer, tablet, mobile phone);
- And, roughly, where it was opened (country, region, city, district).
These are routinely used by companies who send out regular marketing emails or newsletters, usually through mailing subscription services.
Following its consultation, CNIL said that tracking pixels fall within the scope of Article 5.3 of the ePrivacy directive governing cookies – meaning the explicit consent of the end user is required, unless the pixel is strictly necessary for a narrow set of technical reasons, including to demonstrate compliance with obligations to provide legally or contractually required information to users.
So, you’re receiving these emails because those websites or service providers you receive email updates and/or newsletters from require your permission to use tracking pixels for analytics or monitoring purposes.
Officially, CNIL’s position is a recommendation.
However, news websites, service providers and other agencies that send out information, newsletters and marketing material to subscribers by email, are taking it seriously – even the government’s Service Public is acting to request end user consent for its weekly email newsletter – because CNIL has indicated that, following a period of transition, it will step up enforcement activities to ensure tracking pixels are properly used, and end users correctly informed of their rights.
The emails you have received about tracking pixels don’t actually have feature one, but they do give readers the chance to opt in or out of receiving emails with them in future.
According to CNIL, subscribers on lists before April 14th should receive, within three months or so, an email giving them the chance to opt-out of being tracked in this manner.
Those who join subscriber lists after April 14th should receive emails with no tracker pixel included unless they specifically opt in.
End users should also be able to change their minds at any time via the ‘tracking pixel management’ link at the bottom of any email newsletter.
