Cookie banners
Website analytics without cookies, and often without a banner.
Pieowl sets no cookies and stores nothing on your visitors' devices. In many cases that means no consent banner for analytics. Whether you need one depends on your country and the features you turn on.
- No cookies
- No stored IPs
- Data stored in the EU
A cookie banner asks visitors for permission before a site stores or reads something on their device. Pieowl sets no cookies, stores nothing on the device, never stores IP addresses and uses a visitor ID that resets every day. Because of that, in many cases you don't need a consent banner for analytics. But EU rules can apply even without cookies, and some countries have no exemption for analytics. See Do you need a cookie banner? for the details.
Proof
What Pieowl does instead of cookies
Nothing stored on the device
No cookies, no local storage, no session storage.
Visitor IDs reset every day
A hash of the browser, the IP, your project and a secret salt that changes every day. No cross-site tracking.
IP is never saved
It's used for the location lookup and the daily ID, then dropped.
Data stored in the EU
Your analytics data lives in our EU cloud.
The cost
Why cookie banners cost you data
With a cookie-based tool, you only see visitors who accept the banner. Everyone who ignores it or clicks "reject" is missing from your reports. That makes it hard to trust your numbers for traffic sources, conversion rates and revenue.
The rules
Why the rules can apply without cookies
The EU rule on devices covers reading information from a device, not only storing cookies. The EDPB, the board of EU data protection regulators, says a script that makes the browser send information falls under it. So "no cookies" alone doesn't settle the question. There is no EU-wide exemption for analytics. It depends on your country:
- France: the CNIL lets simple audience measurement run without consent if it meets its conditions.
- Netherlands: the law exempts analytics with little or no impact on privacy.
- Germany, Poland and Ireland: there is no general exemption for analytics. You may need a consent tool. Ask your legal advisor.
See Do you need a cookie banner? for the conditions and sources.
Still needs a banner
When you still need one
- Session replay. Recording visits needs consent. Keep Record only after visitors agree on, and call
pieowl('allowReplay')when a visitor accepts in your banner. See consent management. - Revenue sent from the browser. That is conversion measurement, and France's exemption doesn't cover it. Send purchases from your server or with your payment provider's webhooks instead. See revenue attribution.
- Your country has no exemption. Hold tracking until the visitor agrees. See the consent management guide.
- Other tools. Ad pixels, chat widgets and embedded videos often set their own cookies.
The basics
What you do anyway
Even without a banner, privacy rules still apply:
- Name Pieowl in your privacy policy. Say what it collects. Our data policy has text you can copy.
- Sign the DPA. Pieowl processes visit data for you. See our data processing agreement.
- Keep an opt-out. Give visitors a way to say no, for example a link in your privacy policy.
- GDPR still applies. Most sites rely on legitimate interest for this kind of analytics. If you send names or emails with identify(), cover that too.
More: analytics and the law, migrate from Google Analytics, Pieowl vs Google Analytics, privacy-friendly analytics, EU analytics.
This page is information, not legal advice. Rules differ by country. Ask your legal advisor about your own setup.
How it works
Switch in an afternoon
- 1
Add Pieowl next to your current tool
Paste the Pieowl script. Your old tool keeps running.
- 2
Compare the numbers for a week
See how your counts differ.
- 3
Remove the old tool
If it was the only reason for your banner, ask your legal advisor whether you can drop the banner in your country.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does Pieowl need a cookie banner?
Often not for analytics. Pieowl sets no cookies and stores nothing on your visitors' devices, so in many cases you don't need a consent banner for it. But some countries, like Germany, Poland and Ireland, have no exemption for analytics, and session replay needs consent everywhere. Our docs page "Do you need a cookie banner?" has the details.
Can I remove my cookie banner?
Maybe. It depends on your country, on the Pieowl features you use and on the other tools on your site. Ask your legal advisor.
Do I need to mention Pieowl in my privacy policy?
Yes. Name Pieowl as your analytics tool, say what it collects and sign our DPA.
What if I use session replay?
Replay is off until you turn it on, and it needs your visitors' consent. Keep the setting "Record only after visitors agree" on, and call pieowl('allowReplay') when a visitor accepts in your consent banner. Text and form fields are always hidden in session replays.
Will I see more visitors than with Google Analytics?
Where you don't need a banner for analytics, you also count the visitors who would have clicked "reject". How many that is depends on your site.