Does the Pinterest Save Button require cookie consent?

Conditionally. The Save Button is functional and marketing. The sharing feature itself is functional, but Pinterest's SDK sets advertising cookies on page load before any user interaction — including _pin_unauth, a 1-year cross-site tracker for anonymous visitors. Those advertising cookies require marketing consent under GDPR and ePrivacy.

What cookies does the Pinterest Save Button set on page load?

Before any button click, pinit.js sets _pinterest_sess (logged-in user session ID), _pin_unauth (1-year anonymous cross-site tracking identifier), _pinterest_ct_ua (user agent analytics), and _routing_id (load balancing). These fire immediately on script load, not only on user interaction with the button.

How does ConsentStack handle the Pinterest Save Button?

ConsentStack classifies the Pinterest Save Button as functional and marketing. The pinit.js SDK is blocked until marketing consent is granted, preventing pre-interaction advertising cookie placement. A static URL-based share link can preserve sharing functionality without loading Pinterest tracking scripts.

Pinterest Save Button - Social Widget & Consent Info

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Overview

Pinterest Save Button (formerly the "Pin It" button) is a social sharing widget that lets website visitors save images and page content directly to their Pinterest boards. It appears as a button overlay on images or as a standalone widget alongside other social sharing options. While its primary purpose is content sharing, the widget loads Pinterest's platform scripts, which set cookies that identify users and feed data into Pinterest's advertising analytics.

What This Script Does

The Pinterest Save Button loads its SDK from assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js or the newer assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit_main.js. This script scans the page for save button markup and renders interactive Pinterest buttons. On image-heavy pages, it can also inject hover overlays on images, allowing users to save any image directly.

On page load — before the user interacts with any button — the SDK makes requests to Pinterest's servers that set cookies:

_pinterest_sess — Pinterest session cookie; used to identify logged-in Pinterest users browsing the host site; variable expiry
_pinterest_ct_ua — user agent tracking cookie for engagement analytics
_pin_unauth — identifier for non-authenticated Pinterest visitors; 1-year expiry; enables Pinterest to track anonymous users across sites with the Save Button installed
_routing_id — load balancing and server routing cookie

These cookies allow Pinterest to identify both logged-in and anonymous visitors across all websites that deploy the Save Button. This browsing data feeds into Pinterest's advertising platform for audience building and ad targeting.

When a user clicks the Save Button, a Pinterest overlay or popup opens, allowing them to select a board and add a description. The save action transmits the image URL, page URL, page title, and the user's Pinterest identity to Pinterest's servers.

The _pin_unauth cookie is particularly significant for privacy: it persists for a year and enables Pinterest to build a cross-site browsing profile of users who have never logged into Pinterest, purely based on which websites they visit that have the Save Button installed.

Consent & Compliance

Pinterest Save Button is classified as functional and marketing. The save-to-board feature is functional, but the tracking cookies set on page load serve Pinterest's advertising platform.

Under the GDPR, the tracking cookies — particularly _pin_unauth with its 1-year expiry for anonymous cross-site tracking — require explicit consent. These cookies are not necessary for the save functionality and are used to build advertising audiences. Processing personal data for advertising without consent violates Article 6(1)(a).

Under the ePrivacy Directive, cookies set before any user interaction with the button that serve advertising purposes are not strictly necessary. Article 5(3) requires prior consent. The anonymous tracking cookie (_pin_unauth) is especially problematic because it tracks users who may have no relationship with Pinterest.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the cross-site tracking enabled by the Save Button constitutes sharing of personal information for advertising. The _pin_unauth cookie's ability to track anonymous users across websites makes this a clear case of cross-context behavioral advertising subject to opt-out requirements.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Conditional. The Pinterest Save Button combines functional sharing with marketing tracking. The cookies set on page load for advertising purposes require consent. A privacy-respecting implementation should use a static placeholder button that loads the Pinterest SDK only after marketing consent is granted, or implement sharing via a direct URL redirect (https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=...&media=...) that avoids loading Pinterest's tracking scripts.

Is Pinterest Save Button GDPR compliant?

Pinterest Save Button typically loads functional and marketing trackers, which are not strictly necessary for your site to work. Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, non-essential cookies and trackers must stay blocked until a visitor gives clear opt-in consent. So Pinterest Save Button can be fully GDPR compliant, but only if your site holds its scripts until consent is granted and lets visitors decline just as easily. Compliance depends on how your site loads Pinterest Save Button, not on Pinterest Save Button itself.

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