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EasyPolls is a free, lightweight tool that lets publishers embed a single question poll on a web page. The widget loads an iframe from easypolls.net, writes a tracking cookie to prevent multiple votes from the same browser and stores aggregated answers on EasyPolls servers. The operator does not publish a clear data processing agreement, a European representative or a documented international transfer mechanism, which makes the service a high risk choice for EU publishers under the GDPR and ePrivacy.
EasyPolls is a free, no signup tool that lets a publisher create a single question poll and embed it on a website with a few lines of HTML. It targets bloggers, news sites and community managers who want quick visual feedback on a topic without setting up a full survey platform. The site exposes a public list of recent polls and a basic vote dashboard.
The product''s simplicity is also its weakness: the operator does not publish a clear legal entity, a data processing agreement, a European representative or a documented data residency, which raises a number of GDPR and ePrivacy concerns for European publishers.
On a typical embed, EasyPolls loads an iframe from easypolls.net (and easypolls.io for newer polls). The iframe writes a vote tracking cookie on the easypolls.net domain to remember that the visitor has already voted, transmits the answer and the visitor''s IP to the EasyPolls backend and updates aggregated counts. The dashboard on easypolls.net itself uses third party analytics (Google Analytics) and Cloudflare bot management.
Under Art. 5(3) ePrivacy, the vote tracking cookie set by the iframe is not strictly necessary to display the publisher''s page and therefore requires prior consent. Under the GDPR, the absence of a clear controller, a DPA or a transfer mechanism means that any personal data processed by EasyPolls (IP, vote tied to the IP, browser fingerprint) cannot be exported lawfully outside the EU. For polls that touch on sensitive opinions, political views or health, this is incompatible with Art. 9 GDPR.
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EU publishers must block the EasyPolls iframe until the visitor has actively accepted at least the functional category in a Consent Management Platform. The privacy notice should clearly state that the data is transferred to an operator without a published DPA, and offer the user a meaningful choice to opt out. For sensitive topics, EU publishers should pick a different vendor (LimeSurvey, Tally, Typeform, SurveySparrow EU).
EasyPolls does not publish data residency or transfer mechanisms. The service therefore behaves as an unknown third country transfer with no SCCs and no adequacy. Under Articles 44 to 49 GDPR this is a non compliance risk for any EU controller that has not collected explicit informed consent for the transfer.
If EasyPolls is genuinely needed, block the iframe behind a CMP toggle, replace it with a static placeholder describing the poll, mention easypolls.net in the privacy notice with a clear warning about the unknown transfer, never use it for sensitive categories, and document the resulting risk in your Article 30 record. For most EU teams, switching to a vendor with a published DPA and a transfer mechanism (Tally.so, LimeSurvey, Crowdsignal, Doodle Polls) is the safer option.
Websites using EasyPolls must obtain user consent under GDPR regulations.
DPIA considerations
A DPIA is recommended whenever EasyPolls is used for surveys collecting personal opinions, political views, health related answers or anything that could be linked to a known visitor. The DPIA should highlight the absence of a published DPA, the unknown server location and the inability to honour data subject rights through the operator.
Sample consent text
We use EasyPolls (operator unidentified) to display embedded polls. The widget sets a cookie to count votes once per browser and may transfer your IP and vote outside the European Economic Area without a formal Standard Contractual Clauses commitment. For these reasons we only load the poll after you give consent.
Third-party domains contacted
easypolls.neteasypolls.iowww.easypolls.netCookies placed
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| easypolls_vote | third_party | 1 year | Vote tracking cookie set on easypolls.net to remember which polls the visitor has already answered and prevent double voting. |
| __cf_bm | third_party | 30 minutes | Cloudflare bot management cookie set on easypolls.net to distinguish humans from automated traffic. |
| _cfuvid | third_party | Session | Cloudflare visitor identifier used to apply rate limits to bot mitigation rules on easypolls.net. |
| _ga | third_party | 2 years | Google Analytics cookie set on easypolls.net dashboard pages to distinguish unique visitors of the operator's own site. |
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The EasyPolls iframe sets a vote tracking cookie on easypolls.net to remember that the visitor has already answered the poll, plus Cloudflare bot management cookies (__cf_bm, _cfuvid) when the request transits the Cloudflare edge. On easypolls.net itself, Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat) may also be set.
Yes. The vote tracking cookie set by the iframe is not strictly necessary to display the publisher's page. Art. 5(3) ePrivacy and its national transpositions require prior consent. Beyond cookies, the absence of a documented transfer mechanism means EU controllers should treat the embed as requiring explicit informed consent for the transfer.
Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Art. 5(3) ePrivacy). Legitimate interest cannot reasonably outweigh the right of EU visitors to have their data processed by an operator with a documented DPA and a transfer mechanism.
EasyPolls does not publish a data residency. The vote, the IP and any tracking cookie are processed outside the EU on infrastructure controlled by an undisclosed operator. There is no public commitment to Standard Contractual Clauses, an adequacy decision or the EU US Data Privacy Framework.
A DPIA is recommended for any non trivial use because the lack of transparency on the operator, the location and the transfer mechanism is itself a high risk. For polls touching on sensitive opinions, political views or health, the DPIA will usually conclude that EU controllers should pick a different vendor.
Replace the embed with a static placeholder until consent is given in your CMP, restrict EasyPolls to non sensitive topics, document the risk in your Article 30 record and your DPIA, mention easypolls.net explicitly in your privacy notice with a clear warning. Consider switching to LimeSurvey, Tally.so, Crowdsignal or Doodle Polls, which publish a DPA and EU friendly hosting.
LimeSurvey (Germany, self hosted or EU cloud), Tally.so (Belgium, EU hosting), Crowdsignal (Automattic, USA but with a published DPA and DPF), Doodle Polls (Switzerland), Typeform (Spain, EU hosting), SurveyMonkey (US with DPF and EU SCCs), SurveySparrow EU and lightweight options like Tinypoll and Strawpoll.com (with full disclosure).
Add EasyPolls to your cookie policy as a third party with a single vote tracking cookie and the Cloudflare bot management cookies. In the privacy notice, name easypolls.net explicitly, describe the iframe, the vote cookie, the absence of a published DPA and the resulting recommendation that visitors who want to vote actively consent to a transfer to an unknown third country.