Setting up Opt-in Service

Implement the Opt-in service as the single point of reference used by Experience Cloud solutions (referred to as Categories in Opt-in) to determine whether or not to create cookies on a visitor’s device.

The Opt-in service is a JavaScript library bundled with Experience Cloud ID (ECID) and exists in Visitor JS in the global adobe object as the adobe.optIn object. The installed Opt-in service lets you specify if a visitor can opt-in to Adobe solutions at once, or to present solutions in sequence for permission for each. The Opt-in service consent management feature lets you implement with various configurations for your specific privacy requirements.

The Opt-in service lets you specify if a visitor can opt in to Adobe solutions at once, or to present solutions in sequence for permission for each. Once the approval process is complete and recorded by the customer, CMP visitor approvals can be retrieved by all Adobe solutions to respond with related consent calls.

Prerequisites

If using Tags in Adobe Experience Platform, take advantage of the Opt-in extension to configure Opt-in service.

Opt-in categories

A visitor’s Opt-in preferences are relative to an Adobe Experience Cloud solution, where each solution is represented as a category. Categories are provided by the adobe.OptInCategories object where, for instance, the ECID component is referred to as adobe.OptInCategories. ECID. The following is the definition of adobe.OptInCategories:

Opt-in settings are maintained per category, where each Experience Cloud solution is represented by a category:

adobe.OptInCategories = {
    AAM: "aam",
    TARGET: "target",
    ANALYTICS: "aa",
    ECID: "ecid",

};

The Opt-in service lets you set visitors’ permission preferences per each Adobe solution used on your site. It includes a library to save a visitor’s settings by approved category and supports a sequential flow, where the approval process receives “confirm” or “deny” preferences for each category one at a time. You can set solutions/categories to opt in as a whole or as individual solutions.
All Adobe solutions’ client-side libraries depend on the Opt-in service and will not generate cookies unless the solution has been granted permission. Opt-in supports various approaches for providing and updating the consent settings for the current visitor. This section provides examples to set Opt-in service preferences. See the Opt-in API Reference for complete list of functions and parameters.

Opt-in service configurations are provided in the Visitor JS getInstance() function which instantiates the global adobe object. The following lists the Visitor JS configuration settings for Opt-in service.

Example Opt-in configuration in initialization of the global Visitor object

// FORMAT: Object<adobe.OptInCategories enum: boolean>
var preOptInApprovalsConfig = {};
preOptInApprovals[adobe.OptInCategories.ANALYTICS] = true;

// FORMAT: Object<adobe.OptInCategories enum: boolean>
// If you are storing the OptIn permissions on your side (in a cookie you manage or in a CMP),
// you have to provide those permissions through the previousPermissions config.
// previousPermissions will overwrite preOptInApprovals.
var previousPermissionsConfig = {};
previousPermissionsConfig[adobe.OptInCategories.AAM] = true;
previousPermissionsConfig[adobe.OptInCategories.ANALYTICS] = false;

Visitor.getInstance("YOUR_ORG_ID", {
    "doesOptInApply": true, // NOTE: This can be a function that evaluates to true or false.
    "preOptInApprovals": preOptInApprovalsConfig,
    "previousPermissions": previousPermissionsConfig,
    "isOptInStorageEnabled": true
});

Handle changes to consent

At any time during a visitor’s experience on your site, they may set preferences for the first time or may change their preferences using your CMP. Once Visitor JS has been initialized with initial settings, the visitor’s permissions can be changed. See Changes to Consent for a list of managing consent functions.

Opt-in workflows

Opt-in service supports a workflow where permissions can be collected over more than one request cycle and preferences are given one at a time. Using the following functions and providing true for shouldWaitForComplete, your solution is able to collect consent for one or a subset of the total categories, then collect consent for the next one or subset of categories. Beginning on the first call, the adobe.optIn.status property will be pending until adobe.optIn.complete() is called at the end of the flow. Once called, the status is set to complete.

adobe.optIn.approve(['AAM', 'ECID'], true);
adobe.optIn.deny(['ANALYTICS'], true);
adobe.optIn.complete();

See Workflow configuration settings.

Inspect your visitor’s Opt-in permissions

As your visitors make changes to their permissions, you will need insight into the resulting permissions to sync your consent store with changes made in Opt-in service. Inspect your visitor’s preferences using the permissions functions, for example:

fetchPermissions sample

optIn.fetchPermissions(function (permissions) {
    // Here you can check if your category has been approved or not.
    // We recommend using optIn.isApproved() to check for permissions because it abstracts out the details of knowing exactly how the permissions list looks like.
    if (adobe.optIn.isApproved(MY_CATEGORY) {
        sendBeacon(); // Or something
    }
});

OR: You can pass in shouldAutoSubscribe as true, your callback will be used to subscribe to all OptIn events going forward:

function callback() {
    if (adobe.optIn.isApproved(MY_CATEGORY) {
        sendBeacon(); // Or something
    }
}

optIn.fetchPermissions(callback, true);

See API documentation for more details on these and any functions, properties, or configurations mentioned in this document.

Storing visitor preferences

The Opt-in service provides an option for storing consent preferences suited to a dev environment or an environment where it is not feasible to use a CRM. Specifying the configuration property isOptInStorageEnabled as true triggers Opt-in service to create a cookie on the visitor’s system within your domain.

The adobe.optIn object is stateless and provides no storage mechanism. It is intended instead that you manage Adobe consent settings in your existing Consent Management Platform (CMP) if it allows storing custom data. Or you can store visitor preferences in a cookie on the visitor’s browser. You have two options for providing the user’s preferences to Opt-in service: