Italy's regulator: open-tracking pixels are cookies, EU marketing emails need opt-in by Oct 28
Italy's Garante now treats the invisible open-tracking pixel like a cookie: if it can identify a recipient, marketing emails to Italy need prior opt-in consent by 28 October 2026. The six-month grace period lets existing lists keep tracking with a disclosed, granular opt-out, but new addresses must be consent-first from day one. For EU senders, open-rate measurement just became a permission to collect, not a default.