Cookie Consent & Compliance.

Privacy compliance is essential. Reward Loyalty includes a built-in cookie consent banner to help you meet GDPR and other privacy regulations.

Accessing Compliance Settings

1. Navigate to Settings in the admin sidebar
2. Click the Compliance tab

You can also configure these settings via environment variables in your .env file.

Enable Cookie Consent Banner

Controls whether visitors see a cookie consent banner before any tracking cookies are set.

Default: Disabled (false)

Via Admin Dashboard

1. Navigate to Settings > Compliance tab
2. Toggle Enable Cookie Consent Banner on or off
3. Click Save Changes

GDPR & Privacy Compliance

When enabled, visitors will see a cookie consent banner before any tracking cookies are set. This helps ensure compliance with GDPR and similar privacy regulations.

Via Environment File

# Show cookie consent banner
APP_COOKIE_CONSENT=true

# Hide cookie consent banner (default)
APP_COOKIE_CONSENT=false

How It Works

When enabled, visitors see a banner asking them to accept or decline cookies.

When a user makes a choice, their preference is saved in a cookie_consent cookie:

• Accept: The system allows tracking scripts to run
• Decline: Tracking scripts are blocked

The user's preference persists across sessions until they clear their cookies.

Developer Integration

Checking Consent in PHP

If you're developing custom features, you can check for consent in your PHP code:

use App\Http\Controllers\Cookie\CookieController;

if (CookieController::userConsentsToCookies()) {
    // Safe to run tracking code or store non-essential cookies
}

Checking Consent in Blade Templates

Conditionally load scripts (like Google Analytics) based on consent:

@if (\App\Http\Controllers\Cookie\CookieController::userConsentsToCookies())
    <!-- Load Analytics Script -->
    <script>...</script>
@else
    <!-- Load Anonymized Script or Nothing -->
@endif

Default Behavior

If APP_COOKIE_CONSENT is set to false (disabled), the system assumes consent is granted by default, and userConsentsToCookies() returns true.

Privacy Policy

The consent banner links to your Privacy Policy. Ensure this policy accurately reflects your data usage.

To edit the Privacy Policy:

1. Navigate to lang/<locale>/md/
2. Open privacy.md
3. Update the content to match your legal requirements

Available languages:

• lang/en_US/md/privacy.md — English
• lang/de_DE/md/privacy.md — German
• lang/es_ES/md/privacy.md — Spanish
• lang/fr_FR/md/privacy.md — French
• lang/id_ID/md/privacy.md — Indonesian
• lang/it_IT/md/privacy.md — Italian
• lang/ja_JP/md/privacy.md — Japanese
• lang/nl_NL/md/privacy.md — Dutch
• lang/pt_BR/md/privacy.md — Portuguese
• lang/pl_PL/md/privacy.md — Polish
• lang/tr_TR/md/privacy.md — Turkish
• lang/ar_SA/md/privacy.md — Arabic

Testing the Banner

After enabling cookie consent:

1. Open your application in a private/incognito browser window
2. Verify the banner appears on page load
3. Test both Accept and Decline options
4. Confirm the banner doesn't reappear after making a choice

Tip: Use your browser's developer tools to delete the cookie_consent cookie if you want to test the banner again.

Privacy Regulations & Compliance

Cookie consent helps you comply with privacy regulations worldwide. While requirements vary by jurisdiction, the general principle is similar: obtain user consent before setting non-essential cookies.

Major Privacy Frameworks

Tip: When in doubt, enable cookie consent. It's better to ask for consent and not need it than to violate privacy regulations.

Beyond Cookie Consent

Enabling the cookie consent banner is an important step, but privacy compliance requires more:

You should also:

• ✅ Maintain an up-to-date Privacy Policy
• ✅ Provide a way for users to request their data (data portability)
• ✅ Allow users to delete their accounts (right to erasure)
• ✅ Document what data you collect and why
• ✅ Implement proper data retention policies
• ✅ Keep activity logs for audit purposes (see Activity Logs)

Note: The platform provides technical tools for compliance, but you're responsible for ensuring your overall practices meet legal requirements. Consult with a legal professional if you're unsure about your obligations.

External Integrations and Member Data

When you enable integrations, member data crosses system boundaries. Your Privacy Policy should name each integration you use and what it shares:

Two points deserve special attention with the store integrations:

• Members can be created from store orders. A customer who orders in a connected Shopify or WooCommerce store gets a loyalty account from their billing email and receives loyalty emails about their own activity: a welcome message, points received, and coupon codes. Every email carries an opt-out, and members can disable emails in their account. Whether this fits the consent rules in your jurisdiction is your responsibility as the operator; mention it in your store's privacy policy and checkout terms where required.
• Credentials stay on your installation. Store API keys are stored encrypted and are deleted when a partner disconnects. Webhook logs store order metadata and hashed email addresses, never the address itself.

See WooCommerce and Google Wallet for each integration's data table.

Troubleshooting

Banner Not Appearing

Possible causes:

• Setting wasn't saved
• Browser cached the old page
• User already made a choice (cookie exists)

Solutions:

1. Verify the setting is enabled and saved
2. Hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac)
3. Delete the cookie_consent cookie in browser developer tools
4. Try in a private/incognito window

Banner Appears Every Time

Cause: The cookie_consent cookie isn't being saved.

Solutions:

1. Check your browser allows cookies
2. Verify your SESSION_DOMAIN in .env matches your actual domain
3. Ensure you're not running on localhost with a domain mismatch

Important Notes

• Settings configured in the Admin Dashboard override environment file values
• Changes take effect immediately for new visitors
• Existing visitors retain their previous consent choice
• The banner is not shown if consent cookie already exists

Related Topics

• System Settings — Overview of all admin configuration
• Branding — Customize your platform appearance
• Languages & Translations — Edit Privacy Policy content