Leisure businesses that send newsletters and automated campaigns to recipients in France must reassess their use of tracking pixels. Since July 14, 2026, stricter conditions apply to the measurement of individual email opens, with implications for sign-up forms, databases, and marketing automation.
Transition period for existing addresses has expired
The French privacy regulator CNIL published a final recommendation on tracking pixels in emails on April 14, 2026. Such an invisible pixel can record whether and when a recipient opens a message and which device is used to do so.
For email addresses that were already in a database before April 14, organizations were in principle given three months to clearly inform recipients and offer them the opportunity to object. That period expired on July 14. Companies that failed to do so in a timely manner must still collect consent for tracking requiring consent or disable the relevant pixels. The CNIL allows some leeway, with substantiation, when implementation within three months was demonstrably unfeasible.
Wander Journeys points out that for tourism companies, this could mean, among other things, that French contacts must be processed separately. Emails can still be sent to people who do not accept tracking, but without the pixel for which consent is required.
Not every tracking pixel requires consent.
The rules do not mean that every pixel is automatically prohibited without a separate opt-in. The CNIL distinguishes based on the purpose for which the technology is used.
A pixel required solely for limited purposes related to deliverability or security may be exempt under certain conditions. However, as soon as more data is collected than strictly necessary, such as the exact time someone opens a marketing email, consent is generally required.
The type of email also matters. A confirmation after a booking may be subject to different conditions than a commercial newsletter or a campaign to convert an abandoned booking. For shopping cart and similar commercial reminders, the CNIL explicitly states that consent for the tracking pixel is necessary.
Check registration and booking process
According to Wander Journeys, companies should not only look at newsletter subscriptions. A guest can also end up in an email database via a reservation, checkout, information request, or other customer journey. When tracking pixels are subsequently deployed, consent for this must be properly recorded.
This requires coordination between the website, the reservation system, the email software, and the customer profile. The systems used must be able to register who has given consent and subsequently distinguish between shipments with and without tracking.
Moreover, the CNIL expects organizations to be able to demonstrate that consent has been legally collected. Merely stipulating in an agreement that an email provider is responsible for this is not sufficient.
Open rate is becoming less complete
When a portion of recipients receive emails without a tracking pixel, the measured open rate no longer provides a complete picture of the actual reach. This affects campaigns that make a follow-up message, segmentation, or automated action dependent on opening an email.
For leisure businesses, it is therefore wise to become less dependent on opens as a performance indicator. Bookings, information requests, discount codes used, and other demonstrable actions provide a more direct picture of the result. This is a practical consequence of the elimination of individual tracking data, not a separate obligation of the CNIL.
Rules can also affect Dutch senders
The recommendation is a French application of existing rules on electronic communications and tracking, and not a new EU law. However, the French regulator can also take action against organisations outside France when the legal territorial conditions are met. With regard to device tracking, the CNIL has jurisdiction, inter alia, over violations affecting users in France.
Dutch and Belgian holiday parks, campsites, attractions, and destination organizations with French guests therefore cannot simply ignore this development. In practical terms, this begins with mapping the pixels used, their purposes, the origin of email addresses, and the capabilities of the email software to disable tracking per recipient.
More information
Source and more information: CNIL legislation on tracking pixels – Wander Journeys