The effects of regional cookie regulations on analytics

Browser activity

Measuring browser activity relies on cookies: packets of data that track activity between servers and browsers. Regional regulations can affect a visitor's cookie consent decision, depending on where the visitor uses your guide:

• In the EU, regulations require that users are opted out of cookies by default. Users can decide to opt in manually.
• The US state of California also requires that users are opted out of cookies by default.
• For other states in the US, users are opted in to cookies by default, but regulations require that they have the option to opt out.

A high percentage of visitors in the EU and California will be opted out of cookies. Bloomberg Connects can't store data about visitors who opt out of cookies. However, we still anonymize visitor actions, like opening your guide and viewing content, and report them in your Data Dashboard.

QR codes in iOS

Measuring QR codes doesn’t rely on cookies, but it is impacted by Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). When a visitor opens the Bloomberg Connects app for the first time on an iPhone, they will see an IDFA prompt. The prompt requests permission to track activity across apps and websites. If a user denies this request, their QR code scans cannot be tracked. 

However, we still record any scans that a visitor made before they declined the IDFA prompt in the app.