Does server-side tracking with Stape make us GDPR compliant?
No, not on its own. Your consent tool still decides what gets sent, and consent is built per project, so we agree with you how the server container follows it. What the server does give you is control over what leaves your site: you choose what each platform receives, and you can host in an EU zone. On health sites, the lead event carries only an ID and a click ID, never a name, email or phone number.
What server-side tracking doesn't do
Moving tags to a server doesn't make a site compliant. Consent still has to be collected properly, and a visitor's refusal has to be respected. Server-side tracking doesn't bypass consent. How we build that depends on the project.
What it does give you
- Control over what is sent. Each platform only gets the fields you choose, rather than whatever its own script decides to collect.
- First-party hosting. The tracking runs on your own domain, on a subdomain or a path.
- EU hosting. Stape offers EU server zones, so the container can run in the EU.
Health sites
For clinics, the lead event carries an ID and a click ID, and never a name, email, phone number or message. Stape signs a HIPAA BAA only on its Custom plan, and none of our containers are on it, so the safe approach is to keep identifiers out in the first place.
For the legal side of consent and privacy policies, speak to your own adviser. For the setup, see our technical tracking service.
Where this came up in our work
- Client work
Belrose Group
A self-storage investment, development and consulting firm got a new Webflow site with a page for each of its three divisions, a lead funnel it trusted, and its investor portal moved to a new platform.
Read the story - Client work
Hear Me London
A London audiology clinic got local pages, an online hearing test that logs to a sheet and emails the clinic, and server-side tracking behind every booking: 378 online bookings in 15 months, over half from organic search.
Read the story
Also worth asking
Other answers about the same tools.
What is technical and tracking infrastructure?
It's the set-up that counts what happens on your site and sends it where it needs to go: tracking tags, analytics, ad-platform conversions, your CRM connection and cookie consent, plus the hosting and security around your website.
How do you set up website analytics and tracking?
We agree with you what counts as a conversion, then set up Google Tag Manager and GA4, plus server-side tracking through Stape for sites that spend on ads. Before we hand over, we check the data is actually arriving.
What is server-side tracking, and why do we use Stape?
Server-side tracking means your site sends each event once, to a server container, and that server passes it on to GA4, Google Ads and Meta, instead of every platform running its own script in the visitor's browser. We use Stape to host that container so you don't have to run a server. It reduces lost conversions. It doesn't get them all back, and it doesn't get round consent.
How do you handle compliance management for my website?
We work with your cookie consent tool, or suggest one we've worked with, and connect it to your tags so they follow the visitor's choice. How that's wired depends on the project, so we test what your tags actually do. We don't write legal text or give legal advice, so your privacy policy needs sign-off from someone qualified.
What is ad platform integration and why does it matter?
Ad platform integration means joining your website, tracking and CRM to the ad platforms, so they receive the leads and sales that came from their ads. Without it, bidding learns from clicks and form fills instead of customers.
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