GPC compliance is becoming a legal priority for U.S. marketers

February 26, 2026

📝Editor’s Note

Compliance teams are seeing a shift from traditional checklist compliance to more dynamic and measurable expectations from regulators. This week, data privacy and AML frameworks remind us that proactive compliance planning matters just as much as reactive enforcement action.

GPC compliance is becoming a legal priority for U.S. marketers

Global Privacy Control (GPC) is gaining traction as a signal users can send to opt out of data selling and sharing, and the U.S. regulatory landscape is starting to treat it as legally enforceable under privacy laws like California’s CCPA. While the impact on marketing KPIs has so far been minimal because few users consistently activate the setting, the risk of enforcement actions and significant fines is rising.

Companies that ignore GPC signals could face penalties similar to the multi-million-dollar fines seen in recent cases where organizations failed to respect consumer privacy choices. Marketers and legal teams should work with IT to ensure GPC signals are detected and honoured, whether via consent management platforms or custom systems, and maintain records for compliance audits. With more states adopting privacy laws and browsers planning broader support, GPC-related compliance will increasingly matter in implementations tied to tracking and data sharing.

Key takeaway: Legal risk from privacy signals like GPC is rising even if marketing performance impact is not yet widely visible.

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âś… Best Practice Spotlight

Building Compliance Documentation

  1. Establish a single source of truth for policies and procedures, with version history and approval records.

  2. Map regulations to internal controls to show how each provision is addressed operationally.

  3. Maintain audit trails for consent and data processing actions.

  4. Test and verify compliance configurations regularly, not only at rollout.

  5. Document risk assessments and remediation plans.

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🛠️ Tool of the Week

GDPR Compliance Tools to Support Privacy Programs

GDPR compliance tools can help organizations manage their GDPR obligations efficiently. Many tools in this list offer features from consent management to risk assessment and audit support. These tools help structure workflows, automate evidence collection, and monitor compliance across data lifecycle activities.

Top Tools

  • Protecht Group: Comprehensive risk and compliance management with dashboards and gap analysis.

  • Enzuzo: User-friendly privacy platform with consent analytics and data deletion workflows.

  • Alyne (Mitratech): Automated GRC platform with risk assessments and template libraries.

  • Vanta: Monitors controls continuously and centralises evidence collection.

🌟 Leader Spotlight

ThetaRay and Matrix USA target legacy AML gaps with an AI overlay model

Compliance demands from regulators in the U.S. and Europe are pushing financial institutions to modernize Anti-money Laundering (AML) systems beyond rules-based frameworks to analytics-driven programs. ThetaRay and Matrix USA announced a strategic partnership that layers machine learning-based detection and investigation tools on top of existing infrastructure, allowing banks to modernize without full system replacement. This approach helps reduce false positives, improve risk sensitivity, and align monitoring capabilities with rising supervisory expectations. With regulatory changes in effect in 2026, the collaboration reflects a pragmatic route for institutions facing modernization constraints while preserving historical investment in legacy systems.

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