Definition
A consent management platform (CMP) is software that shows website visitors a privacy notice or cookie banner and records their choices about tracking and data sharing. It then passes those choices to the tags and scripts on the site, so they collect only what each visitor allowed.
Pasch Group Dealer Glossary
What it means for a dealership
For US dealers, the main driver is state privacy law. California requires businesses covered by its privacy law to honor opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control, a browser setting or extension that tells sites the visitor opts out of the sale or sharing of their data. Several other states have similar rules. A CMP can read those signals and apply them across the site.
A banner alone doesn’t protect a dealer. The CMP has to actually stop tags from firing after a visitor opts out, and scripts added outside its control, such as those in a vendor’s own Google Tag Manager container, can keep running. Pasch Group’s website inspection field guide tested dozens of dealer websites for how scripts behave when shoppers opt out.
A CMP can also work with Google’s consent mode, which passes each visitor’s choices to Google tags so they adjust what they collect. Test the site after every vendor or tag change: opt out, then check which scripts still send data.
In practice
A shopper visits a dealer website with Global Privacy Control turned on in her browser. The CMP reads the signal, records the opt-out and blocks advertising tags that would share her data, while the site’s analytics run in the limited mode the dealer has set up.
Questions
Do car dealers in the US need a cookie banner?
It depends on where your customers live and which state laws apply to your business. California and several other states require covered businesses to honor opt-out requests, including browser signals such as Global Privacy Control. Check your obligations with your counsel.
Sources
Updated October 11, 2026