Using Consent-Based Email Open Tracking

Consent-based open tracking lets you include Iterable's email open-tracking pixel only for recipients who have agreed to it. When you turn on Use consent-based open tracking for a project, Iterable checks the emailTrackingPixelConsent field on the user profile when it renders a marketing email, and adds the tracking pixel only when that field is true.

This control is off by default. Until you turn it on, Iterable doesn't evaluate emailTrackingPixelConsent, and pixel behavior follows the project's existing open-tracking setting.

Iterable doesn't collect tracking-pixel consent from recipients, and it doesn't backfill existing profiles. You collect consent in your own systems, then write the boolean to Iterable.

To learn how Iterable records an emailOpen event, and for project-wide open tracking, see Email Open Tracking.

# In this article

# Turn on consent-based open tracking

To change this setting, you need the Manage Settings permission.

1. Go to Settings > Project Settings.
2. In the Email section, turn on Use consent-based open tracking.
3. Click Save.

If your Customer Success Manager (CSM) previously disabled open tracking for all users in this project, turning on Use consent-based open tracking overrides that restriction. Iterable then tracks opens for users who have consented, and continues to omit the pixel for users who haven't consented or who are missing the consent field.

# Set emailTrackingPixelConsent

emailTrackingPixelConsent is a system-defined boolean on the user profile. Use this field rather than a custom field with a similar name. Iterable treats only an exact boolean true as consent. The string "true" is not consent.

Iterable doesn't check emailTrackingPixelConsent for transactional emails, so those sends always include the tracking pixel. Iterable classifies a send as marketing or transactional by the message channel, not by campaign name or template. If you send marketing content on a transactional channel, Iterable includes the tracking pixel regardless of the user's consent value. Applicable regulations may still require consent for that send. Your organization is responsible for making sure the channel classification in Iterable matches the regulatory treatment of your messages.

# Consent metadata

Iterable stores metadata for this field in itblInternal.emailTrackingPixelConsentMetadata. That object includes a timestamp (changedAt) and the update source (updatedVia). Iterable generates these values. Don't send this object in user update requests.

This metadata isn't shown in the Iterable UI. You can retrieve it with GET /api/users/{email} or GET /api/users/byUserId/{userId}.

The metadata records only the latest consent change. It isn't a versioned history of every consent event. changedAt is set when the consent value is first written, and it updates only when that value actually changes. Writing the same value again doesn't change the timestamp. If you need to show consent as of a specific date, such as when a particular email was sent, keep a timestamped consent log in your own systems.

# Update consent on user profiles

Write the boolean to Iterable with any of these profile-update paths:

• POST /api/users/update
• POST /api/users/bulkUpdate
• CSV or other profile imports
• A User Profile tile in a Journey

To withdraw consent, set the field to false. Blank values in a CSV import don't change the stored value.

Tracking-pixel consent is separate from consent to receive marketing email. Channels, message types, and preference centers don't set emailTrackingPixelConsent. A subscription preference center manages consent to receive messages. It doesn't record tracking-pixel consent.

# Manage tracking-pixel consent with user profile fields

Use a Journey to set emailTrackingPixelConsent for users who match profile attributes in your consent policy, such as country, locale, account type, or lifecycle state.

1. Build a dynamic list from a segmentation rule.
2. Use that list as the audience for a scheduled Journey.
3. Update emailTrackingPixelConsent with a User Profile tile.
4. Run the Journey again only when consent needs to be recalculated.

Write false for users in a market, region, or profile state where your policy disables tracking. Write true only when you have an affirmative consent signal, such as a form submission or a trusted value from your source system. You can use this same Journey pattern for either value. Leaving a profile audience, such as a France or fr_FR segment, doesn't grant consent.

When more than one rule can apply, decide which one takes precedence. For example, your policy might let an explicit opt-out override a profile rule and require an explicit opt-in before you write true. Work with your compliance and privacy teams to set these rules.

# Disable tracking for a country or locale

This example sets emailTrackingPixelConsent to false for users whose country is France or whose locale is fr_FR.

In Segmentation, save a dynamic list that matches users where country equals France or locale equals fr_FR. Name the list for the rule, such as Pixel consent - France or fr_FR - disable. Dynamic lists refresh from their segmentation criteria, so membership changes as profiles change.

Create a Journey and set the Start tile entry source to Schedule.

1. Under Add to Journey, select the dynamic list.
2. Use a one-time schedule to set consent from current profiles. Use a recurring schedule to re-evaluate the rule as profiles change.
3. Under Exclude from Journey, add any audiences your policy keeps out of this update, such as users with a verified opt-in.
4. Set Maximum entries to 1 for a one-time update. For a recurring Journey, choose a limit that matches how often consent should be recalculated. Unlimited lets a user enter again each time they qualify.

Add a User Profile tile and connect it to the Start tile. Select Use the data below and enter:

{
  "emailTrackingPixelConsent": false
}

Use the boolean false or true. The strings "false" and "true" aren't valid consent values.

End the Journey after the profile update. If a later tile reads emailTrackingPixelConsent, add a short delay after the User Profile tile so the update can finish first.

# Update the audience once or on a schedule

Use a one-time schedule when you want to set consent from the profiles you have now, such as the first time you apply a France or fr_FR rule. Set Maximum entries to 1.

Use a recurring schedule when profiles should be rechecked. A scheduled Journey adds users who are on the list when the schedule runs. A user who later leaves the list hasn't granted consent. Write true from a separate, explicit consent update.

Before you publish, preview the dynamic list. Test users who match each part of the rule, users who match none of it, and a user who already has the value you're writing. After the Journey runs, confirm the profile value. Later marketing emails use the value stored when Iterable renders each message. See Review sends after consent changes.

# Capture tracking-pixel consent from a link click

Iterable doesn't include a tracking opt-out link in your email template. Add your own link. When a recipient clicks it, Iterable records an email click that includes the URL. A Journey can use that click to set emailTrackingPixelConsent.

Use a click-triggered Journey when the link is in one campaign and you want the profile updated soon after the click. Use a dynamic list and a scheduled Journey when you want the update to run in a batch, or when the link is in more than one campaign.

The steps below withdraw consent by writing false. Don't write true from a link click alone. Automated security scanners can click links in an email without any action from the recipient, so a click isn't an affirmative consent signal. To record consent, send recipients to a page where they confirm their choice, such as a form, and write true from that confirmation.

# Update consent from a click in one campaign

1. Create a Journey. On the Start tile, set the entry source to Event occurs > Email click. See Start Tile.
2. Select the campaign that contains the link.
3. Match the consent URL.
   • For one URL, filter the click on the Start tile. The URL conditions there are Equals and Starts With. Use Equals for an exact URL, or Starts With when the URL includes a query string that can vary. Connect Start directly to the User Profile tile.
   • For more than one URL, add a Yes/No Split after Start. Is One Of is available on the Yes/No Split. Set Filter by to This journey's triggering event, set the event to Email click, and match the URL with Equals, Starts With, or Is One Of. Email click events include the clicked URL. See System Webhooks. Connect the Yes branch to the User Profile tile, and leave the No branch unconnected so those users exit without a profile change.
4. Set Maximum entries to 1 if each user should update consent from this link once. Set it to Unlimited if a later click should update consent again.

Add a User Profile tile, select Use the data below, and enter:

{
  "emailTrackingPixelConsent": false
}

Set the field to boolean false. Don't clear the field to withdraw consent. Iterable omits the pixel from marketing emails when the field is missing, but false records an explicit withdrawal on the profile.

End the Journey after the profile update. Add a short delay after the User Profile tile only if a later tile needs to read the updated field.

# Update consent from clicks across campaigns

1. Create a dynamic list that requires an email click, and match the clicked URL with Equals or Starts With. Use Is One Of to match more than one exact URL.
2. Set the Start tile to Schedule, and under Add to Journey select the dynamic list. A scheduled Journey adds the list's members each time the schedule runs. See Start Tile.
3. Choose a cadence, such as once a day.
4. Set Maximum entries to 1 if each user should take this path once, or Unlimited if a later click should update consent again.
5. Use the same User Profile tile update as the single-campaign Journey.

If you filter the list on emailTrackingPixelConsent, use Equals true for a link that withdraws consent. That matches users whose stored consent will change. Does Not Equal false returns those same users and leaves out profiles that are missing the field. Users who are missing the field already have the pixel omitted on later marketing emails.

Between the user's click and the next scheduled run, the profile still has the previous consent value. If that value is true, Iterable includes the tracking pixel on marketing emails rendered during this window. The pixel is omitted after the Journey writes false.

Test with the URL you'll use in production, a repeated click, a profile that's missing the field, and profiles that already have true and false.

# Review sends after consent changes

Iterable decides whether to include the pixel when it renders the email. Later changes don't rewrite messages that were already sent.

• Future marketing emails use the current field value and project setting.
• Previously sent emails keep the HTML that was rendered at send time. If a pixel was included, it can still record an emailOpen when the image loads.
• Click tracking isn't affected. Open tracking and click tracking use separate mechanisms.

If you use Stored Messages to store email send payloads, you can review the stored HTML to see whether a send included the tracking pixel. System webhook emailSend payloads can also include pixelInjectionOutcome (InjectTracking or Omit) and pixelInjectionReason. These fields describe whether Iterable included the pixel at send time. They don't include the recipient's consent value. See System Webhooks.

If you turn the setting on during an active campaign, or only some recipients consent to the tracking pixel, campaign reporting can include both tracked and untracked messages.

Marketing emails sent without the pixel don't produce emailOpen events, so open counts decrease for those sends. A missing emailOpen doesn't always mean the recipient didn't open the message. The pixel might not have been included. Metrics that include assumed opens can still count a click as an open. For the metrics and Iterable features that use open data, see Email Open Tracking.

# Want to learn more?

• Email Open Tracking
• Project Settings
• User Profile Fields Used by Iterable
• Message Channels and Message Types Overview
• Metric Definitions
• System Webhooks