Open tracking and consent

Open tracking relies on a pixel: an invisible one by one pixel image added at the bottom of the email. When the recipient's mail client loads it, FluenzR records that the message was opened.

Since 2026, this mechanism is regulated in France. This page explains what changed and what FluenzR gives you to deal with it.

This page describes a legal framework and the tools FluenzR provides. It is not legal advice: as the sender, you are the data controller for your own campaigns.

What changed

In deliberation no. 2026-042 of 12 March 2026, published in the Official Journal on 14 April 2026, the CNIL, the French data protection authority, adopted a recommendation treating email tracking pixels as trackers falling under article 82 of the French Data Protection Act, the same article that governs cookies.

The consequence: measuring opens to optimise your campaigns requires the recipient's consent. A transition period ran until 14 July 2026.

Exemptions

Not every use requires consent. The recommendation notably provides for:

The deliverability exemption is the most useful in practice, but it comes with a condition: only the date of last open may be retained.

That is exactly what FluenzR does. The pixel records nothing but an open date, on the first open. No IP address, no user agent, no reopen counter, no geolocation. If your use stays within removing inactive contacts, you fall inside the exemption.

What FluenzR gives you

Turning tracking off for your whole account

In Account settings, uncheck Open tracking. No pixel will be injected into your emails any more, in campaigns or direct sends.

This setting only affects the pixel. Still in place:

• click tracking, which does not fall under the same regime;
• the unsubscribe link, required under the GDPR;
• your postal address, required under CAN-SPAM.

When tracking is off, the open rate is no longer shown on the dashboard or in campaign statistics. A label says so, to avoid reading a zero as poor performance.

Informing recipients

When the pixel is active, FluenzR automatically adds a notice to the footer of every email stating that it is present, what it is for, and offering a link to object to it. Nothing to configure.

Recipient objections

The link in the notice leads to the preferences page, the same one used for unsubscribing. The recipient finds two distinct actions there:

• unsubscribe: they receive nothing further;
• object to open tracking: they keep receiving your emails, without the pixel.

The objection is stored on the contact record and applies to all your campaigns immediately. It always takes precedence over your account setting: even with tracking on, a contact who objected receives no pixel.

What remains yours to handle

FluenzR gives you the tools, not compliance itself. Still on you:

• your privacy policy, which must describe the pixel, its purpose and the retention period;
• the legal basis for your sends, separate from the pixel: consent to receive your emails is documented on the contact record, in the Consent source field;
• informing your existing lists, if you email contacts collected before April 2026.

Frequently asked

Do I need to email people asking for consent to the pixel?

No. The recommendation describes information plus a right to object, not a prior opt-in. A recipient who says nothing stays tracked. That is what the footer notice does.

Is click tracking affected?

The recommendation targets the tracking pixel. Click tracking follows a deliberate action by the recipient, and FluenzR leaves it on in every case.

Does a contact who objected still receive my emails?

Yes. That is the difference with unsubscribing: they lose the pixel, not the messages.