Third-Party Cookie and Tracking Compliance in eLearning: What You Need to Know in 2025

By 2025, over 80% of eLearning platforms have stopped relying on third-party cookies. If your course platform still uses them, you’re not just outdated-you’re at risk of legal action, lost learner trust, and platform bans. It’s not a future problem. It’s happening right now.

Why Third-Party Cookies Are a Problem in eLearning

Third-party cookies are small files placed by domains other than the one you’re visiting. In eLearning, they’re often used by analytics tools, ad networks, and external widgets to track learners across different sites. You might think this helps personalize courses or improve engagement. But here’s the truth: learners don’t expect to be followed from your course to a shopping site, a news portal, or a job board. And laws like GDPR, CCPA, and the new EU Digital Services Act now treat this as a violation.

Imagine a student takes a compliance training course on your platform. Later, they see ads for gym memberships because your platform shared their browsing behavior with a third-party tracker. That’s not just creepy-it’s illegal in the EU and California. And it’s not just about fines. Learners who feel watched stop enrolling. Completion rates drop. Reviews go negative. Your brand reputation takes a hit.

What Laws Actually Require

You don’t need a legal team to understand the basics. Here’s what compliance means in plain terms:

• GDPR (Europe): You must get clear, informed consent before any tracking. Pre-ticked boxes? Not allowed. Silent tracking? Illegal.
• CCPA/CPRA (California): Learners have the right to know what data is collected and to say no. You must honor "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" requests.
• EU Digital Services Act (DSA): Platforms using behavioral tracking must disclose it clearly and offer opt-out options. Non-compliant platforms can be blocked in the EU.
• New York Privacy Act (2024): Requires explicit opt-in for any profiling, even for internal analytics.

These aren’t suggestions. They’re enforceable laws. In 2024, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined a major LMS provider €2.3 million for tracking learners without consent across external sites. That company used third-party cookies to build learner profiles for marketing purposes. They didn’t even tell users.

How eLearning Platforms Still Break the Rules

Many platforms think they’re compliant because they have a cookie banner. But that’s not enough. Here are the most common mistakes:

• Using Google Analytics 4 without consent: GA4 still uses cookies to track across domains. Even if you anonymize IPs, you’re still processing personal data without permission.
• Embedding YouTube videos without consent: When you embed a YouTube video, it drops cookies even if the learner never plays it. That’s tracking.
• Third-party chat widgets (like Intercom or Zendesk): These often track users across sites. If they’re not configured for zero-tracking mode, you’re violating privacy laws.
• Using ad retargeting pixels: If you’re showing ads to past learners on Facebook or LinkedIn, you’re using third-party cookies. That requires explicit opt-in.

One university in Texas was hit with a complaint in early 2025 after a student discovered their learning activity was being sent to Meta’s tracking system through a course quiz tool. The tool had a hidden pixel. No disclosure. No consent. The university had to shut down the tool and issue refunds to 12,000 students.

What to Use Instead of Third-Party Cookies

You don’t need third-party cookies to understand how learners behave. Here are compliant alternatives:

• First-party data collection: Track everything on your own domain. Use your LMS’s built-in analytics. Tools like Moodle, Canvas, and TalentLMS collect learner progress, quiz scores, and time spent-all without leaving your site.
• Server-side tracking: Send data directly from your server to your analytics tool. No cookies. No browser tracking. Tools like PostHog and Matomo offer server-side options.
• Consent-first analytics: Use tools like Fathom or Plausible. They don’t use cookies at all. They measure page views and engagement without identifying individuals.
• Zero-party data: Ask learners directly. "What topics do you want to see next?" "How helpful was this module?" People are happy to share if you’re transparent and respectful.

Arizona State University switched from Google Analytics to Plausible in 2024. Their learner engagement metrics stayed the same. Their bounce rate dropped. And their compliance audit passed with zero findings.

How to Audit Your eLearning Platform

Here’s a simple 5-step checklist to make sure you’re compliant:

1. Scan your site: Use a free tool like Cookiebot or Osano to find all third-party trackers. Look for domains like google.com, facebook.net, youtube.com, hotjar.com.
2. Map each tracker: Write down what each one does. Is it for analytics? Ads? Chat? Personalization?
3. Check consent flow: Does your cookie banner let users block all non-essential trackers? Or does it only offer "Accept All" and "Reject All"? The latter is not compliant.
4. Review third-party vendors: Email your LMS provider, video host, and analytics vendor. Ask: "Do you use third-party cookies? Can you provide a data processing agreement?" If they can’t answer, find a new vendor.
5. Update your privacy policy: List every tracker, what data it collects, why you use it, and how users can opt out. Make it easy to read. No legalese.

Do this every quarter. New trackers pop up all the time-especially when you add new features or integrations.

What Happens If You Don’t Comply?

The penalties are real. In 2024, the EU fined a language learning app €1.8 million for tracking 3 million users without consent. In the U.S., the FTC sued a corporate training platform for secretly sharing learner data with advertisers. The platform was forced to delete all collected data and pay $4.5 million in restitution.

But fines aren’t the worst part. Learners are leaving. A 2025 survey of 12,000 adult learners showed that 68% would stop using a platform if they found out it was tracking them across the web. That’s not a small number. That’s a mass exodus.

And platforms like Apple Safari, Firefox, and Brave now block third-party cookies by default. If your course doesn’t work without them, your learners can’t access it. You’re not just non-compliant-you’re inaccessible.

How to Build Trust, Not Trackers

Compliance isn’t a burden. It’s an opportunity. When you stop tracking learners without permission, you show respect. And respect builds loyalty.

Instead of asking, "How can we track them?" ask: "How can we serve them better?"

Use data you collect with consent. Send personalized recommendations based on what learners chose themselves. Offer downloadable resources based on their quiz results. Create follow-up courses based on their self-reported goals. These strategies work better than creepy ads ever could.

One corporate training provider in Chicago replaced all third-party trackers with a simple survey after each course: "What’s your next goal?" They used the answers to build custom learning paths. Completion rates jumped 41%. Learner satisfaction scores hit 9.4 out of 10.

Privacy isn’t the enemy. Indifference is.

Next Steps: Start Today

Don’t wait for a fine or a complaint. Start your compliance audit this week.

1. Run a cookie scan using Cookiebot or Osano.
2. Identify every third-party tracker on your site.
3. Replace non-essential ones with first-party or cookieless tools.
4. Update your privacy policy with clear, plain-language disclosures.
5. Train your team: No more embedding YouTube videos or chat widgets without consent.

By June 2026, every major browser will fully block third-party cookies. If you haven’t moved by then, your platform won’t work for millions of learners. The time to act isn’t tomorrow. It’s now.