ShareASale - Affiliate Tracking Cookie Consent

Overview

ShareASale (now owned by Awin) is one of the largest affiliate marketing networks, connecting merchants with affiliate publishers who promote their products in exchange for commissions on referred sales. Its scripts set referral tracking cookies when visitors arrive through affiliate links and fire conversion pixels on order confirmation pages to attribute sales to the referring affiliate for commission calculation.

What This Script Does

ShareASale deploys scripts at two points in the customer journey:

Referral cookie setting: When a visitor clicks an affiliate link, they pass through ShareASale's redirect (shareasale.com/r.cfm), which sets a first-party cookie on the merchant's domain storing the affiliate ID, click timestamp, and campaign parameters. This cookie typically persists for 30-120 days depending on the merchant's program configuration.
Conversion pixel: On the order confirmation page, a tracking pixel fires to ShareASale's servers containing the transaction ID, order value, product details, and the cookie-stored affiliate ID. This attributes the sale to the referring affiliate.
JavaScript tag: Some implementations use a JavaScript tag that provides additional tracking capabilities, including cross-device attribution and enhanced conversion validation.
Data transmission: Transaction details (order value, product SKUs, coupon codes used) are transmitted to ShareASale/Awin for commission calculation and fraud detection.

Consent & Compliance

ShareASale falls under the marketing consent category. Affiliate tracking and conversion attribution are marketing activities that monitor and incentivize promotional referrals.

Under GDPR and ePrivacy, ShareASale's referral cookies require explicit opt-in consent. The persistent tracking cookies, cross-session attribution, and conversion pixel data collection constitute non-essential processing. The cookie persisting for 30-120 days is well beyond what the "strictly necessary" exemption covers. As part of the Awin network, ShareASale processes data under Awin's GDPR framework, but initial consent is still required.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the referral tracking data and transaction information shared with ShareASale constitute "sharing" personal information with a third party for advertising purposes.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. ShareASale scripts set persistent referral tracking cookies and fire conversion pixels that transmit transaction data to a third-party advertising network. Block all ShareASale scripts until the user grants marketing consent. Without consent, affiliate conversions are not tracked — consider server-side conversion postbacks as a consent-independent fallback.

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Consent Categories

Marketing

Also Known As

shareasaleshare a saleshareasale affiliateaffiliate tracking cookiesshareasale merchantawin shareasale

Industries

Marketing and AdvertisingBusiness and Consumer Services

Tracked Domains (1)

shareasale.comMarketing

Frequently Asked Questions

Does ShareASale require cookie consent on merchant sites?

Yes. ShareASale is a marketing vendor that sets referral tracking cookies via affiliate links and fires conversion pixels on order pages. Under GDPR, this affiliate tracking requires explicit consent. Under CCPA, sharing transaction data with the affiliate network may trigger opt-out requirements for personal information.

What tracking data does ShareASale collect from visitors?

ShareASale sets a first-party cookie on the merchant domain when a visitor clicks an affiliate link. This cookie stores the affiliate ID, click timestamp, and campaign parameters. On order confirmation pages, a conversion pixel captures transaction amounts and order details to attribute sales to the referring affiliate.

How does ConsentStack manage ShareASale affiliate tracking?

ConsentStack detects ShareASale's redirect scripts and conversion pixels, categorizing them under marketing. Without consent, ConsentStack prevents the affiliate cookie from being set and blocks conversion pixels. When marketing consent is granted, ShareASale scripts load and affiliate attribution works normally.