ReThinkingPrivacy.com releases the results latest INDEX, who is collecting data, and without consent? Our ground-breaking auditing now includes reporting of tracking pixels.

[London, UK] ReThinkingPrivacy.com proudly announces the launch of an online tool aimed at scrutinising global websites to gauge their compliance with privacy regulations. Astonishingly, statistics reveal that 9 out of 10 organisations mistakenly believe they adhere to privacy standards when, in fact, they do not.

Today, ReThinkingPrivacy.com takes a giant leap forward by unveiling its ground-breaking Privacy Risk Index, specifically tailored to monitor UK Local Government websites. This innovative index provides an exhaustive overview of all Local Government websites, categorising them as either compliant or non-compliant, while also presenting their respective scores. Additionally, it offers a historical performance record and an in-depth analysis for each Local Government website, pinpointing exact tracking deficiencies across four key categories: Cookies, Web storage, Database, and now includes the tracking Pixels.

Further reading, on one of the many tracking pixels found at:

1. Meta’s Tracking Pixel Violates GDPR and the EU Ban on Transatlantic Data Transfers
2. Facebook’s Tracking Pixel in Europe: illegal or misunderstood?
3. Behind the Pixel: Understanding the Risks and Impact of Pixel Tracking

In a snapshot summary of the latest findings, a mere 29% of the 397 Local Government websites were compliant with privacy legislation, while a staggering 58% were classified as high or very high-risk websites. These non-compliant websites had significantly violated privacy regulations, potentially exposing themselves to legal liabilities. Such violations can be exceedingly damaging to an organisation's reputation, akin to an act of personal data theft.

It's crucial to emphasize that some council websites had previously complied with privacy regulations within the past year. This underscores the importance of regular website assessments or notifications when the risk score undergoes changes.

For a comprehensive view of the Privacy Risk Index, please visit: https://rethinkingprivacy.com/pra-index/q04tu0

ReThinkingPrivacy.com is currently extending its offer of free reports to all organisations. Simply visit our homepage and input your domain to access this invaluable resource.

"While it's not within my purview to endorse specific tools or services, I wholeheartedly applaud this overarching initiative, which represents a genuine leap in innovation", remarked Neelie Kroes, now former Vice President of the European Commission for Innovation (on release of the original service).

We appreciate for a lot of councils finding out their website may be a bit of a surprise. Quite often one of the main causes of this is that complying with privacy legislation is seen as a one-time task, and fixed a while back and since then the website has changed and fallen back.

For additional information, please contact: Edward Bowen // edward.bowen@rethinkprivacy.co.uk