WikiFrameworksQuebec Law 25Transparency for Profiling and Tracking Technologies

Transparency for Profiling and Tracking Technologies

Updated: 2026-02-23

Plain English Translation

Under Quebec Law 25 section 8.1, organizations that use technologies to identify, locate, or profile individuals (such as tracking cookies, mobile SDKs, or analytics tools) must clearly inform users about this practice. Furthermore, these tracking features must be deactivated by default, and organizations must provide the individual with the means to explicitly activate them (opt-in) before any profiling or location tracking begins.

Executive Takeaway

Organizations must disclose the use of any technology that identifies, locates, or profiles individuals, and ensure these tracking functions are strictly opt-in.

ImpactHigh
ComplexityMedium

Why This Matters

  • Mitigates heavy regulatory fines from the Commission d'accès à l'information (CAI) for non-compliant website tracking or mobile data collection.
  • Builds consumer trust by providing transparent choices over how their digital behavior and location data are collected.
  • Requires significant updates to website cookie banners, mobile app permissions, and third-party marketing tag configurations.

What “Good” Looks Like

  • Deploying a robust Consent Management Platform (CMP) configured to block all non-essential tracking technologies prior to user opt-in, and maintaining implementation evidence (e.g., banner configuration, tag firing rules) in tools like WatchDog Security's Compliance Center.
  • Updating public privacy notices and cookie policies to clearly define how profiling and tracking technologies assess user behavior.
  • Maintaining an auditable consent log to prove that tracking was explicitly activated by the user, and tying consent evidence to control ownership and review workflows using tools like WatchDog Security's Compliance Center.

What is Quebec Law 25 section 8.1 is fundamentally about transparency. It requires organizations to inform individuals if they are using technologies to identify, locate, or profile them. It also mandates that organizations provide the means for individuals to activate these functions, making them opt-in by default.

Yes, cookies, pixels, and analytics tools are considered Loi 25 tracking technologies if they collect personal information used to identify, locate, or profile individuals. Consequently, organizations must declare their use and allow users to activate them.

Yes, Law 25 opt-in consent for cookies Quebec dictates that tracking, location, and profiling technologies must be deactivated by default. Users must explicitly opt-in to activate these non-essential functions before data collection occurs.

When using such technologies, organizations must inform the individual of the use of the technology and the specific means available to activate the functions that allow them to be identified, located, or profiled. Fulfilling this meets the Quebec Law 25 requirements for tracking technologies.

According to Law 25 profiling transparency rules, profiling means the collection and use of personal information to assess certain characteristics of a natural person. This explicitly includes analyzing their work performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, or behavior.

Yes, under Law 25 privacy by default tracking features off by default is a strict requirement. The law specifies that organizations must provide the means to activate these functions, legally establishing an opt-in model where profiling cannot occur prior to user interaction.

To understand how to implement Law 25 consent banner Quebec correctly, the banner must clearly state the use of profiling or tracking tech, identify its purpose, and provide a clear mechanism (like an unchecked checkbox or button) for the user to activate the technology without dark patterns.

Absolutely. The law applies to any technology, including mobile app SDKs, that includes functions allowing a person to be identified, located, or profiled. App developers must provide Law 25 location tracking notice requirements and obtain explicit opt-in before activating these SDKs.

If someone asks does Law 25 apply to employee monitoring and profiling, the answer is yes. The legal definition of profiling explicitly includes analyzing a person's work performance. Employers must transparently disclose the use of such monitoring software to employees and explain how it operates.

Organizations should maintain a consent management record and adtech configurations proving that scripts do not fire without user action. Retaining published privacy notices and cookie policies detailing these disclosures is essential to prove how to comply with Loi 25 cookie consent during a CAI audit.

Law 25 §8.1 is easiest to defend when you can show consistent disclosures, opt-in controls, and proof that tracking did not start before activation. Tools like WatchDog Security's Compliance Center can help centralize control ownership, map this requirement to multiple frameworks, and organize evidence (e.g., cookie policy, consent logs, and tag/SDK configuration snapshots) for audit-ready reporting.

Tracking transparency often breaks down because marketing tags, analytics SDKs, and adtech vendors change frequently. Tools like WatchDog Security's Vendor Risk Management can help maintain a vendor catalog, document which vendors process personal information via tracking/profiling, and record assessments and approvals so teams can show oversight when third-party technologies are involved.

LAW25 § 8.1

"In addition to the information that must be provided in accordance with section 8, any person who collects personal information from the person concerned using technology that includes functions allowing the person concerned to be identified, located or profiled must first inform the person (1) of the use of such technology; and (2) of the means available to activate the functions that allow a person to be identified, located or profiled. “Profiling” means the collection and use of personal information to assess certain characteristics of a natural person, in particular for the purpose of analyzing that person’s work performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests or behaviour."

VersionDateAuthorDescription
1.0.02026-02-23WatchDog Security GRC TeamInitial publication