Pricing
Request a Demo

The ins and outs of consent management platforms

About Ketch
Ketch Trust by Design is a coordinated set of applications, APIs, and infrastructure. Deploy once, comply and control everywhere.
Responsive, scalable compliance
Always-on data discovery and flexible consent and rights management for compliance with every data regulation, now and in the future.
Enforce privacy choices everywhere
Respect and enforce people’s privacy choices and rights with granular control over downstream data applications.
Data intelligence and value
Understand your data footprint, and harness responsibly-gathered data to fuel core operations and top-line growth.
Learn More

Data has long been a workhorse – serving a multitude of purposes across a single organization, ranging from tailored advertising to revenue generation. As a result, managing and complying with customer data preferences is often a nearly impossible task. This is where a consent management platform (CMP) can be your workhorse’s workhorse – providing the foundation to ensure data compliance based on evolving regulations.

In the face of mounting but patchwork privacy legislation across the United States and Europe, more companies than ever before are finding themselves in search of a consent and preference management (CPM) solution. Unsurprisingly, the market size of CPMs is exponentially growing. These platforms help businesses of all sizes remain compliant while they build a framework that delivers a consumer-centric experience based on trust. The effects can be powerful, and those who ignore the opportunities risk legal consequences and PR nightmares. 

Let’s cover the ins and outs of consent management platforms: answering the question "why is consent management important" before addressing how to find a platform that will work for you. 

Consent management platform requirements

When it comes to respecting privacy, consent is the first step. 

So, first things first — what is consent management? Consent management is the process or system that allows customers to determine what data they feel comfortable sharing with a business. For example, if your company uses third-party apps, you'll need the user to consent to cookies. 

Today's privacy regulations require you to obtain users' consent before collecting and using their data. Unfortunately, many businesses use outdated consent management platforms. These companies might think they are protecting themselves and their users. However, their cookie consent management system often no longer meets current requirements. 

Since it is your responsibility to remain compliant and up-to-date, understanding consent management platform requirements is essential. These platforms can help you with a range of content management use cases, ranging from the needs of financial companies to those in the manufacturing industry. 

Consent management platform requirements include:

  • The ability to capture insights into what customers want concerning the use of their data. Are they comfortable offering their data for analytics? Advertising? Both? A platform like Ketch can help you seamlessly sort through the noise, ensuring consent preferences are met based on purpose-specific data controls
  • The option to set privacy choices across all devices, interactions, and platforms.
  • The ability to enforce privacy choices across your data ecosystem.

Learn more: 3 requirements for effective consent management

Free consent management platform

If your website processes visitors' personal data, you need a consent management platform — but how do you choose between a paid vs. free option?

The answer depends less on the cost of the platform and more on the features provided. For example, does the platform offer cookie consent, policy management, mobile app consent, privacy requests, etc.? If so, it will give you the support you need from a privacy tool, especially when developed by a company that specializes in privacy compliance and management

Are you looking for a free consent management platform? Ketch Free offers comprehensive tools to help you respect consumers' rights to privacy and data dignity. When opting for this complimentary choice, you benefit from:

  • Future-proof data privacy compliance, including CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, etc. 
  • Access to a flexible preference center that maximizes customer control. 
  • Tools for creating pixel-perfect banners to deliver notices and disclosures across web and mobile applications while recording user consent. 
  • Quick, seamless deployments, thanks to templates and privacy language.

When you require more features, you can always opt for the next step up, benefiting from options designed for enterprises and developers

Read more: Explaining Ketch Free: a free consent management tool for privacy compliance

Consent management platform comparison

You'll want to run a consent management platform comparison when aiming to find the right consent management tool for your business. Which features matter most to your business based on your present and future goals?

When comparing, revert to the requirements listed above. Also, consider whether you want a standalone consent management platform or an integrated option. The latter helps businesses save time and money because everything is in one stack

Here are some options to consider.

Ketch

As Ketch says, anyone can collect consent, but when leveraging its consent and preference management platform, you benefit from enforcement too. Unlike most consent capture platforms, Ketch helps protect your business from risk while building customer trust. Through the power of APIs and a coordinated set of applications, Ketch collects and implements privacy choices across all vendor and internal systems. 

This fast, easy-to-deploy privacy system includes everything needed to deploy responsive, identity-aware consent and personal preference management for your business.

Cost: $0 with Ketch Free

TrustArc

TrustArc will help you scale your global cookie compliance while personalizing customer experiences at scale. Like Ketch, it has some great features and focuses on GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations. However, it does not offer APIs, reducing the level of integration and customization.

Cost: The basic version is free. For more features, you'll need to request a quote. 

OneTrust

With OneTrust, you can capture user consent to understand preferences better. This process will allow you to develop more effective campaigns based on personalization and segmentation. While this is a popular consent management platform, it won’t enforce consumer privacy choices in downstream systems which puts your compliance and your customers' privacy at risk. 

You can compare Ketch vs. OneTrust here

Cost: You can access a free trial and then build a paid plan based on your needs. 

Want to learn more?

Read the following resources:

Have questions? Contact us to discover the possibilities today!

Get started with Ketch

When comparing the options above, it's tough to beat Ketch. The consent and preference management is flexible and adaptable, integrating seamlessly with other platform privacy components. Ketch consent and preference management is built for compliance with GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and more. You can customize your policies or leverage available templates. Custom API keys allow you to connect all your data systems, ensuring privacy choices are enforced no matter where it lives. Ketch empowers you to adapt with ease to the changing legislative landscape – remaining compliant and ensuring consumer trust and safety.

Designed for developers

Developer first APIs, SDKs, and native adapters.

View Documentation
No code
App
Ketch workflow orchestration
Low code
API
Hosted Service
Appliance
In code
SDK or a library
Spark
MapReduce
Tensorflow
In tech
Database driver
Snowflake
Redshift
BigQuery
Ketch uses an industry-wide specification (OpenAPI) to help both humans and computers understand our service capabilities. We are iteratively designing APIs to meet various customer use cases, getting feedback from developers on its usability and functionality.
If they don’t fit your needs, we work with you to understand and incorporate your feedback into the API development process.