Customize cookie tracking settings and privacy policy alert

Super Admins and users with permission to edit website settings can customize visitor cookie tracking and privacy policy banners to comply with EU cookie laws and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

A privacy alert allows visitors to opt in or opt out of being tracked in your HubSpot account with cookies. This feature works for all HubSpot pages as well as any external pages with your HubSpot tracking code installed.

Please note: while HubSpot has cookie tracking and privacy policy settings, your legal team is the best resource to give you compliance advice for your specific business circumstances.

How does HubSpot track website visitor activity?

HubSpot uses cookies to track your website visitors and contacts. A cookie is a small text file that is left behind on a visitor's browser when they come to your site. When the HubSpot software runs on your website, it leaves behind a cookie on your visitors’ browsers that helps HubSpot identify them on future visits.

Should I adjust my privacy policy?

If your business has a presence in Europe, or if you store any data on contacts in the European Union (EU), you must adjust your privacy policy to comply with EU laws. The EU has mandated that member countries create laws that require websites to gain consent from end users prior to storing data on a website visitor’s computer. These regulations are designed to help your website visitors protect their privacy and determine how their behaviors online are used by others.

Under the GDPR, if a contact of yours is an EU citizen, they must be given notice that you're using cookies to track them (in a language they can understand), and they need to consent to being tracked by cookies.

HubSpot allows you to set this privacy policy, show it to your visitors, and prompt them to consent to allow cookies to comply with EU regulations.

Set up and edit your cookie policy

Please note: only Super Admins and users with permission to edit website settings can set up and edit cookie policies.

Customize your default cookie policy

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon settings in the main navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Cookies.
• Click Default policy.
• In the right panel, you have the following options:
  • Use cookies: click to toggle the switch on to track your visitors with cookies.
  • Notify visitors that your site uses cookies: click to toggle the switch on to display a notification to your visitors to show that your site uses cookies.
  • Require opt-in: click to toggle the switch on to require users to opt in to cookie tracking.
• If you toggle the Notify visitors that your site uses cookies switch on, you can customize the following fields:
  • Notification terms text: text displayed in your privacy banner.
  • Accept button label: button text visitors click to accept your privacy banner's terms.
  • Decline button label: button text visitors click to decline your privacy banner's terms.
  • Disclaimer text: text displayed if opt-in is required for tracking.
• When you're done, click Apply.

• You've set up your cookie policy banner but have not published it. To publish a policy, click to toggle the switch the right of the policy on. In the bottom right, click Preview to see how the privacy policies will appear on your site.
  

If you want to allow users to edit their consent, you can work with a developer to implement that functionality using the HubSpot Tracking Code API. Learn more about implementing additional consent status and cookie removal functions in the developers documentation.

If you want to allow users to revoke their consent for cookies installed by the cookie banner, check out the following steps to add a Remove cookies button.

Please note: if you're using the HubSpot ads tool to add a pixel to pages with the HubSpot tracking code, your privacy policy banner will automatically display when the pixel fires on your pages. If you require visitors to opt into cookie tracking, the pixel will not be able to place any cookies until the visitor confirms their consent.

Add a new cookie policy (optional)

You can choose to show different versions of your cookie consent message based on domains, subdomains, specific URL paths, or both domains and URL paths that you specify. For example, you can choose not to have an opt-in banner for your US site, and only require an opt-in banner for your EU site.

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon settings in the main navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Cookies.
• Click + Add policy. In the right panel, you have the following options:
• Policy label: this is the title of your privacy banner.
• Domain: enter a domain or subdomain where your banner will appear. This must be entered as a domain without the protocol (e.g., hubspot.com or info.hubspot.com is acceptable, but not http://info.hubspot.com).
• URL Path: set a subdirectory for a more targeted banner (e.g., if the French version of your website is hosted on the /fr subdirectory, enter fr).

Please note: if a page URL matches multiple policy rules, the most specific rule will take priority (in order from most to least specific: (sub)domain and URL path, URL path, (sub)domain, then the default policy). For example, you may have three policies for the following domains and or URL paths: info.hubspot.com, info.hubspot.com/fr, and /fr. A visitor to info.hubspot.com/fr/offer will see the info.hubspot.com/fr policy, while a visitor to info.hubspot.com/fr will see the policy for the /fr URL path.

• Click the Choose a language dropdown menu to select a different language for your policy. Alternatively, you can click Start from scratch to customize the notification terms text, accept and decline button labels, and the disclaimer text for a different language.
• When you're done, click Apply.

• You've set up your cookie policy banner but have not published it. To publish a policy, click to toggle the switch the right of the policy on. In the bottom right, click Preview to see how the privacy policies will appear on your site.
  

If you want to allow users to edit their consent, you can work with a developer to implement that functionality using the HubSpot Tracking Code API. Learn more about implementing additional consent status and cookie removal functions in the developers documentation.

If you want to allow users to revoke their consent for cookies installed by the cookie banner, check out the following steps to add a Remove cookies button.

Please note: if you're using the HubSpot ads tool to add a pixel to pages with the HubSpot tracking code, your privacy policy banner will automatically display when the pixel fires on your pages. If you require visitors to opt into cookie tracking, the pixel will not be able to place any cookies until the visitor confirms their consent.

Customize the style of the banner

Customize the colors and style of your cookie policy banner.

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon settings in the main navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Cookies.
• If you've never created a banner, In the Cookie notification style section, click Check out new styles. If you have already customized your banner, continue to the next step.

• Choose an accent color for the banner by selecting a default color or selecting a custom color.
• Click the Notification type dropdown menu and select Top banner or Bottom banner depending on where you want the banner to appear on your site.
• In the bottom left, click Save.

Add a Remove cookies button to the cookie policy banner

To add a "Remove cookies" button to that page for users to revoke their cookie consent to the cookies implemented or loaded by the cookie policy banner:

• In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon settings in the main navigation bar.
• In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Cookies.
• Click the Remove code tab.
• To copy the code, click Copy.
• Add the code to the pages of your site that has the HubSpot tracking code, where you want the Remove cookies button to appear.

If you want to install the code on all pages, most content management systems can install code to all pages on your site, such as a footer file that is referenced across all pages. In HubSpot, you can add the code to the footer HTML of all pages on a specific domain. Please check with your developers on how they can help do this on external sites.

Understand how contacts interact with the cookie policy banner

If a visitor accepts your privacy policy, you can track them with the cookie settings you've set up in your account. If a visitor declines your privacy policy, they will not be tracked with cookies.

View a single contact's interaction with the cookie policy banner

To view a single contact's interaction with the cookie policy banner:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Contacts.
• Click the name of the contact to check their interaction with the cookie policy banner.
• Check the contact's timeline for a consent event. If the contact interacted with the banner, it should state if the contact accepted, declined or revoked the cookie policy banner.

Create a list of contacts based on their interaction with the cookie policy banner

To create a list of contacts who've had a certain interaction with the cookie policy banner:

• In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Lists.
• In the upper right, click Create list.
• In the upper left, enter the name of your list.
• In the left pane, select Events and then, Privacy Consent.
• Select the appropriate filter and value.
  • Approved: the contact accepted the cookie policy banner.
  • Declined: the contact declined the cookie policy banner.
  • Revoked: the contact's cookies were removed. Learn more about the Remove cookies API.
• Click Save and let the list process. It will display the contacts that meet your filter criteria.