Cookie Compliance in 2026: Protecting Your Brand Amid Changing Privacy Laws

For many brands, cookie compliance may feel like old news. With privacy laws in place for nearly a decade, it can seem like the box has already been checked. But as new laws emerge—and interpretations of old ones evolve—cookie compliance isn’t a one-time fix. It’s an ever-evolving strategy. And in 2026, it’s back in the spotlight.

Already this year, we’re seeing a fresh wave of claims. The surge that accelerated through 2024 and 2025 hasn’t slowed—largely fueled by the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), a statute from the 1960s that has since been modernized to apply to digital environments like website tracking.

What once felt like a checked box is now at the forefront of the conversation for brands throughout the country.  

Why the Uptick in Cookie Consent Lawsuits?

While major data privacy laws— namely, GDPR and CCPA—come with significant regulatory penalties, under CIPA, each violation is subject to statutory damages, a proposition that has become increasingly attractive to plaintiff firms because:

• CIPA provides statutory damages of up to $5,000 per alleged violation. Up to interpretation, this means that each instance could count as a separate violation, costing a business thousands of dollars.

• Violations are relatively easy to identify, with automated scanners that make it easy to flag noncompliant implementations.

• Many websites are unintentionally noncompliant. Even brands that have taken the steps to follow best practices may still have outdated setups or technical misconfigurations hindering these efforts.

Altogether, these factors create the perfect environment for an increase in legal claims and more businesses falling through the cracks of this complex landscape.

If you haven’t acted yet, now’s the time to start.

All this legal talk can feel intimidating, but the good news is that, just as misconfigurations are easy to spot, the foundational steps to becoming compliant are relatively simple. It starts with understanding the basic principles that influence your risk.

1. Do you know who your audience is and where they are coming from? Geographic-specific regulations may apply differently based on where your users are located.

2. What third-party technologies are at play on your site? Tags, pixels, embedded tools—every component matters.

3. Do you understand what data you’re collecting and why? Having clarity around this purpose is the first step in building trust with your users.

Cover Your Bases

While not necessarily hard, cookie compliance is undoubtedly complex, and with AI reshaping digital ecosystems, it’s only becoming more so. The safest long-term bet is adopting a cookie management platform (CMP) that will automate most of the work for you and keep up with evolving regulations.

A CMP does far more than managing banner pop-ups. It supports you with legal interpretation, identifying exemptions, classifying tags, blocking unauthorized scripts and ultimately achieving consent across different regions.

Last but not least, always seek legal counsel when needed to confirm how these regulations apply to your specific business.

Ready to strengthen your cookie compliance approach for 2026? Hiebing is here help. Email Nate Tredinnick at ntredinnick@hiebing.com to set up a call.