What does this pixel do?
The pixel used in our emails serves a single purpose: detecting whether a reminder email was sent to a non-existent address or a deactivated account, so that Merchants can correct their contact details and reach the right recipient. It is not used to measure engagement, optimize campaigns, or profile recipients.The legal framework
On March 12, 2026, the CNIL adopted a recommendation (Deliberation No. 2026-042, published on April 14, 2026) classifying email tracking pixels as “trackers” under Article 82 of the French Data Protection Act (loi Informatique et Libertés). As a general rule, this requires the recipient’s prior consent, unless the use falls within one of the exemptions set out in Section 3.2 of the recommendation.Our use of the pixel falls within this exemption
The recommendation exempts individual deliverability measurement from the consent requirement, provided three cumulative conditions are met:- Exclusive deliverability purpose — which is our case: the pixel only identifies delivery failures (bounces) and deactivated accounts.
- Strict data minimization — we only collect the opening date and/or bounce status, never the time of opening or the IP address.
- A connection to a service requested by the recipient — the CNIL explicitly lists invoices and reminders among the transactional emails covered by this exemption, provided they are part of an existing business relationship between the Merchant and its customer.
What this means for Merchants using Upflow
The consent exemption does not remove the general transparency obligation. As the data controller for this processing, you remain responsible for ensuring your recipients can know, through your privacy policy, that this type of technical tracker is used.We recommend including a statement to that effect in your privacy policy.