I just found out about a wave of demand letters being sent to small businesses, and I wanted to pass it along.

Here’s the issue: most websites have hidden code running in the background. It shares visitor info with places like Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn, to help with website analytics or ads.

If that code starts sending data before a visitor has agreed to it (by clicking “accept” on a cookie banner, if your site even has one), that’s actually against California law. This applies no matter what state your business is in, it’s about where your website visitors are. And it doesn’t matter how small your business is, there’s no exemption. Businesses are getting hit with damages starting at $5,000 per violation in lawsuits and settlements.

You can check your own site in about 60 seconds:

1. Open your site in an Incognito/private window
2. Don’t click anything on the cookie pop-up, if you have one
3. Run your home page through a free “Cookie Checker” tool online

If it shows things loading in the background before you’ve clicked anything, that’s a problem.

Fixing this really takes two things:

1. the right compliance tool with a pop-up banner. I love, and am an affiliate for, Termageddon
2. someone to implement the code required that makes your compliance tracker do its job. If you need help with this part, just reach out.

If you have a friend with a small business who needs to have this info, forward this along or point them to the Cookie Checker.