Ad targeting data not shared with third parties without affirmative opt-in

Behavioral data — browsing history, content preferences, inferred demographics — is among the most sensitive data a community platform holds. Sharing it with ad networks (Google Ads, Meta Pixel, TikTok) without explicit opt-in violates GDPR Art. 6 (no lawful basis), GDPR Art. 7 (no consent), CCPA §1798.120 (right to opt out of sale/sharing), and eprivacy Art. 5(3) (tracking without consent). Regulators have issued nine-figure fines for exactly this pattern. A Facebook Pixel firing on page load without consent is not an implementation detail — it is an ongoing violation for every page view.

Initialize ad network SDKs and pixels only after checking consent — never on page load unconditionally. Wrap all ad SDK initialization behind a consent gate in src/lib/analytics/adNetworks.ts:

export async function initAdNetworks(userId: string) {
  const hasConsent = await getConsentStatus(userId, 'ad_targeting');
  if (!hasConsent) return;

  // Google
  gtag('config', process.env.GA_MEASUREMENT_ID!);

  // Meta Pixel
  fbq('init', process.env.META_PIXEL_ID!);
  fbq('track', 'PageView');
}

For server-side ad data sharing (Conversions API, audience uploads), add an identical consent check before every API call to the ad network — client-side gating alone is insufficient if server-side sharing continues.