Is Meta Pixel GDPR compliant?

What does Meta Pixel do?

Facebook and Instagram conversion tracking. It reports visits and actions back to Meta and can match them to a Meta account, which makes it advertising rather than measurement, and squarely consent-based.

Does Meta Pixel need consent?

Yes. Meta Pixel is Advertising, which is never strictly necessary for a website to function. Under ePrivacy Article 5(3), and its national transpositions, storing or reading anything on the device for that purpose requires consent first, and that consent has to be as easy to refuse as it is to give.

ePrivacy Art. 5(3) · TDDDG § 25 (DE) · TKG 2021 § 165(3) (AT) · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)

Does Meta Pixel send data outside the EEA?

Yes. Meta Pixel processes data outside the European Economic Area, so you need a transfer mechanism under Chapter V and you have to say so in your privacy policy. In practice this means standard contractual clauses, or a provider certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

GDPR Art. 44 · GDPR Art. 46

How do we detect Meta Pixel?

We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. Meta Pixel is recognised by requests to connect.facebook.net and facebook.com, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.