Shutting off Munchkin on the Site- Link Tracking via Email- GDPR Compliance

[Tammy_Chan]

Hi-

Our developers have shut off the munchkin code on our site until the person opts into cookie tracking. With this being the case, when I send emails to a person with a link directing them back to our site- I have to shut off the "Include mkt_tok" otherwise the link will break, is this what everyone else is dealing with bc of GDPR?

[Josh_Hill13]

Will it?

Why not allow people to Opt Out of tracking and munchkin tracking?

[Tammy_Chan]

Hey Josh, am I not understanding this correctly in that normally they start getting tracked as soon as they reach our site, but w/ GDPR don't they have to be given the option before the tracking begins? -

[SanfordWhiteman]

Hey Josh, am I not understanding this correctly in that normally they start getting tracked as soon as they reach our site, but w/ GDPR don't they have to be given the option before the tracking begins? -

They are tracked from the moment they click a tracked link, regardless of whether the link leads to your site or another site. This isn't Munchkin tracking, but it is part of the overall tracking mechanism (and part of what you need to consider under GDPR).

Once they reach your site, once Munchkin.init() runs, and in the absence of the special mkto_opt_out cookie, their web activities (pageviews and link clicks on your pages).will be tracked.

[Josh_Hill13]

Yes, I meant to say that

We used the mkto_opt_out on our subs page to allow that if the person desires. We also enabled Do Not Track requests on Admin.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Sounds like you're not clear on what does what with regard to tracking.

You definitely must not turn off mkt_tok for everyone. If you turn it off, there will be no way to opt a person back into tracking after they click, because they will be anonymous and you will never get that value back. The mkt_tok is essential for turning previously anonymous sessions into associated sessions (sessions whose view and click activities are associated with a named lead in your database). If you don't have mkt_tok to draw on when they do consent, you have to wait for them to fill out a form. That's just shooting yourself in the foot.

However, you should turn off click tracking by for people who have not expressed consent, because that is another form of activity tracking (and doesn't itself use Munchkin). While intertwined in most people's minds, this isn't the same as mkt_tok.

If any of this doesn't make sense to you, you should hire a developer who understands these variations.

[Grant_Booth]

Including the mkt_tok should not cause the link to break if munchkin is not running on your site. If munchkin is not running, it simply won't do anything with the mkt_tok parameter. If that's causing your links to break then there must be some other issue on your site where it's not loading because of that URL parameter.

[SanfordWhiteman]

Thanks Grant, forgot to add that to my reply -- mkt_tok doesn't break anything unless a site is exceedingly poorly designed.