Cookie Consent

Cookie consent is the process of obtaining informed permission from website visitors before setting non-essential cookies on their devices. Under privacy regulations like GDPR, Saudi PDPL, and UAE PDPA, websites must inform visitors about what cookies are used, why they are used, and obtain active consent before setting any cookies beyond those strictly necessary for website functionality. The GDPR's ePrivacy Directive (Cookie Law) established the original cookie consent requirements in the EU, requiring prior opt-in consent for all non-essential cookies. Essential cookies — those strictly necessary for website functionality such as session management, shopping cart, and security tokens — do not require consent. All other cookies — analytics, marketing, advertising, personalization, and social media — require explicit consent before being set. Cookie consent implementation typically involves a consent banner or dialog that appears on first visit, categorization of cookies into purpose groups (essential, analytics, marketing, preferences), granular controls allowing visitors to accept or reject individual categories, and persistent storage of consent choices. Modern consent implementations also integrate with advertising technology through Google Consent Mode v2 and IAB TCF 2.3 to communicate cookie consent state to ad tech platforms in real time. Advanced implementations include script blocking (quarantining tracking scripts until consent is granted), cookie blocking (intercepting non-essential cookie writes), and request blocking (queuing network requests to tracker domains). For MENA businesses, cookie consent must support Arabic RTL layouts, multiple regulation frameworks (PDPL opt-in, CCPA opt-out), and integration with regional e-commerce platforms. Arqam360 provides a complete cookie consent solution with auto-detection, script quarantine, GCM v2 signals, and Arabic-first design.