Frequently asked questions
For any data exchange to work, it must be interoperable (meaning that data is recorded, shared, and used in a consistent form). To ensure this consistency, all organisations who have access to the data captured via Preference.Express have agreed to the SWAN Data Schema. The Data Schema is designed with the necessary legal, economic, and technical conventions in mind and allows different technology to be built upon the same conventions.
Preference.Express uses SWAN open source technology. Within SWAN, third-party cookies are used where available, but if not, the technology will fall back to the first-party cookie.
You will need to deploy Preference.Express on your websites to link the Random ID between publishers, your suppliers, and your properties. Please get in touch if you’d like to start using Preference.Express.
Once an individual has filled out their preferences and received a Random ID, the data is only ever stored in a browser cookie file, and thus it only works for a single browser. However, individuals can optionally provide an email address and a short passcode if they wish to link their preferences across additional browsers and devices. Receivers of this hashed email are restricted from re-identifying the individual associated with that Random ID.
The Random ID is an ID randomly generated from timestamps that is passed between domains in encrypted URLs. It is not a fingerprint derived ID.
Yes, the Random ID is not hindered by different browsers and will work across Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari etc. For example, on Safari, it encrypts the URLs that contain the data so that internet gatekeepers can’t interfere with them.
Preference.Express is a consent management platform (CMP) that is built from the open source SWAN technology. The Model Terms and Data Schema documents form the Preference.Express implementation. We believe in creating a digital world where individuals have a safer and smoother online experience. We do this by only asking for their marketing preferences once and in simple terms that everyone can understand.
Preference.Express is not based on TCF (Transparency Consent Framework). Rather than hoping individuals will just accept cookies because it’s less hassle (even though they might not know what a cookie is), individuals are told in simple terms what their preference options are. They can choose to accept personalised marketing, standard marketing, or receive none at all. It’s as easy that.
If you’d like to test Preference.Express on your own site, please get in touch. We can provide you with a small snippet of code you can add to your HTTPS websites.
Please do get in touch if you are commercially interested in Preference.Express. We’d love to talk and find out more about your specific use case.
The first time an individual accesses a website using Preference.Express, they are prompted to fill out their consent preferences. They can choose between personalised or standard marketing, or even no marketing at all. This then creates a pseudo anonymous identifier (also known as a Random ID). The consent process has user-friendly language to communicate clear and specific consent options for the various types of marketing to allow individuals to make informed choices. Plus, consent is only stored after first receiving opt-in consent.
When visiting a website that is using Preference.Express, individuals will see a little pop-up of the Preference.Express logo – clicking this logo will bring up the user interface provider on their current website. This interface contains the options for individuals to instantly change their preferences, including invoking their right to be forgotten, with just a few clicks.
Individuals can optionally assign their Preference.Express Random ID to an email address alongside a short passcode. When they next visit a Preference.Express website on a new browser or device, they will be asked to fill out their preferences again (as they are considered a “new” individual). Instead of filling their preferences again, they can use their email and passcode to associate their Random ID to that current browser or device. They will no longer be asked for their consent; no more pop-ups!
Yes, publishers of all sizes can use Preference.Express. If you’d like to talk to us about your specific use case, please do get in touch.
Great choice! You can contact us and we’d happily set up a meeting to find out more about your specific use case.
Please drop us an email to express your interest in installing Preference.Express. We’d love to discuss your specific use case and we can even provide a small snippet of code to allow you to test Preference.Express on your own websites.
Preference.Express is built upon the SWAN open source technology, which has two key documents: the Model Terms (the legal stuff) and the Data Schema (the technical implementations). Once a digital business has agreed to abide by the Model Terms and Data Schema, they can use these two documents as a framework to build their own technology. The benefit of this is that all data that is captured within this technology is now interoperable (meaning that data is recorded, shared, and used in a consistent form), allowing different websites to share the preference data.
Quite the opposite in fact; your website performance may improve. If an individual has already set their preferences on a previous website using Preference.Express, it will not be necessary to show the privacy policy or CMP pop-up on screen. This can result in less layout shift and a quicker time to get to the content.
Publishers can use multiple methods of collecting data for different data processing purposes if they are clear about the purpose. As such, Preference.Express can be used alongside other data collection technology (such as paywalls or a log-in screen). If this is of interest to you, then please get in touch to discuss further technical integrations of Preference.Express.
Everyone who has access to the Preference.Express data must agree to the Model Terms. One way to ensure lawful use of data is by using a transparent audit trail of the companies that process the data; this is available underneath an advert that has been served on a website using Preference.Express. This audit trail provides cryptographic proof to show individuals the information they need in order to exercise their rights to transparency of who sent the ad and why it was delivered to them.
No. All parties who have agreed to abide to the Model Terms are lawfully required to report any data breaches. The transparent audit trail provides additional cryptographic proof of who has accessed the data, including suspicious activity.
This is a policy decision for the publishers, rather than for Preference.Express. However, one feature of Preference.Express is that data is remembered until the browser wipes cookies (such as closing a private browsing window). Alternatively, individuals can reset their data at any time by visiting a publisher website that’s using Preference.Express and accessing the user interface. This will bring up the option to instantly reset their data.
Within Preference.Express, an individual’s data is only ever stored in browser, making it easy to ensure all instances of data are no longer associated with the device – there’s no need for the individual to go to the different data processors or data controllers to request data deletion. Once deleted, the previous Random ID will not be linked to a personal identifier such as an email (unless an individual chose to associate their ID with their email), making it easy to start afresh.