How to Ensure Eligibility for Captain Compliance ComplianceShield

Captain Compliance offers ComplianceShield, a guarantee designed to protect eligible customers from fines or penalties related to web tracking practices. If an eligible customer is fined or penalized due to web tracking activity, Captain Compliance will cover the applicable fine or penalty, subject to ComplianceShield terms, conditions, limitations, and eligibility requirements.

Because this guarantee is based on a high standard of technical enforcement, ComplianceShield eligibility requires that Captain Compliance be deployed and maintained in a robust and defensible configuration. This article outlines the requirements that must be met to qualify for the guarantee.

To qualify for ComplianceShield, all of the following conditions must be satisfied.

All Cookies Must Be Correctly Categorized

All cookies and tracking technologies detected on your website must be properly classified.

This includes:

• No cookies remaining Unclassified

• Each cookie assigned to the correct consent category

• Accurate and meaningful cookie descriptions

Accurate classification is foundational. Consent logic and enforcement depend on knowing exactly what technologies are present and how they are categorized.

Cookie Blocking Must Be Validated

Cookie blocking must be validated both at initial deployment and on an ongoing basis.

Validation includes confirming that:

• Non-essential cookies are not set when consent is rejected or has not yet been granted

• Cookie values are nullified or otherwise rendered inactive as configured

• Behavior remains consistent after site changes, tag updates, or deployments

Validation should be performed using browser developer tools and repeated periodically, especially after material website updates.

Script Blocking Must Be Enforced

Cookie blocking alone is not sufficient for ComplianceShield eligibility.

Non-essential scripts must be prevented from executing unless the appropriate consent has been granted. This typically requires:

• Script gating through Google Tag Manager, or

• A comparable script execution control mechanism

Hard-coded or inline scripts must also be reviewed and gated appropriately. If a script executes prior to consent, it may generate network traffic even when cookies are blocked, which can undermine eligibility.

In addition to general script blocking requirements, script execution controls play a critical role in defending against a growing class of privacy claims based on observable network traffic, rather than cookies.

In these cases, plaintiffs allege that personal data (such as a name entered into a website search bar) was transmitted to third parties via request URLs, referrer headers, or request payloads. These transmissions can occur even when cookies are blocked or nullified, because JavaScript can generate network requests without relying on client-side storage.

To address this risk, non-essential scripts that can observe page context, URLs, referrers, or search parameters must not execute unless the appropriate consent has been granted. This includes analytics, session replay, personalization, testing tools, and other third-party scripts that initialize on page load.

Preventing execution is critical. If the script never runs, the network request never occurs.

For detailed guidance on identifying these risk scenarios and implementing execution gating to prevent search-term leakage, see the following articles:

• How to Avoid Network-Traffic-Based Privacy Litigation

• How to Gate Non-Essential Scripts and Beacons Using Explicit Consent Logic

Privacy Notice and DSR Portal Must Be Customized and Approved

ComplianceShield eligibility also depends on accurate and complete disclosures and request-handling mechanisms.

Captain Compliance generates privacy notices and DSR portals based on the information you provide, but these outputs are intended to serve as a starting point. Because privacy disclosures and request workflows depend on your organization’s specific data practices, systems, and jurisdictions, all generated content must be reviewed, validated, and customized where necessary before publishing. Internal and legal review is required.

Key areas to review and customize include:

• Accuracy of data collection, use, and sharing disclosures

• Regional applicability and jurisdiction-specific requirements

• Contact information and internal escalation paths

• DSR portal fields to ensure only necessary information is collected

• Request types offered and fulfillment workflows

• Consistency with internal privacy policies and operational practices

Privacy notices and DSR portals should only be published once your organization has reviewed and approved the configuration and content.

Ongoing Maintenance Is Required

ComplianceShield eligibility is not a one-time configuration.

Eligibility depends on maintaining compliant behavior over time, including:

• Re-scanning websites after changes

• Reviewing newly introduced or modified cookies and scripts

• Periodically re-validating consent behavior

Any material change to your website, tag configuration, or third-party tooling should trigger a compliance review.

ComplianceShield eligibility depends on both initial deployment quality and ongoing operational discipline. Captain Compliance provides the tools and guidance needed to meet these standards, but eligibility ultimately depends on how those tools are implemented and maintained.

If you have questions about your current eligibility status or need assistance validating your configuration, contact your primary Captain Compliance representative.