> Business Catalyst was retired by Adobe in 2021 but residual cookies and BC subdomains persist. GDPR, ePrivacy obligations and migration guidance. > > Canonical: https://www.flowconsent.com/en/services/cms/business-catalyst CMS # Business Catalyst Unclassified · [Official website](https://businesscatalyst.com) Business Catalyst was Adobe's hosted website builder for small businesses, retired in March 2021; legacy snippets and BC subdomains can still be found on long lived sites. [Block Business Catalyst until consent](https://app.flowconsent.com/auth/sign-up?utm_source=flowconsent.com\&utm_medium=referral\&utm_campaign=cms) · [Scan my site](https://www.flowconsent.com/en/scan) At a glance - Category [CMS](https://www.flowconsent.com/en/services/cms) - Consent Unclassified - Prior consent Required - Documented cookies 2 - Third-party domains 4 - Servers Historically Adobe data centres in the United States, Australia and Europe; the service is no longer operational Overview ## What does Business Catalyst do? ## **What Business Catalyst was** Business Catalyst (BC) was an Adobe hosted website builder and small business CRM, originally acquired in 2009. Adobe retired the service in March 2021 and instructed customers to migrate to other platforms. Many sites built on BC were never properly migrated and still load BC scripts, fonts and admin panels from Adobe subdomains. ## **Cookies and data on legacy BC sites** Where the BC integration is still active, the page sets BC session and admin cookies, BC analytics cookies and loads scripts from worldsecuresystems.com, businesscatalyst.com and adobebc.com. Forms still target BC endpoints, which can result in 404 responses or in data flowing to Adobe US until the integration is fully removed. ## **GDPR and ePrivacy implications** BC residuals are non essential and route data to a US infrastructure. Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive and the Schrems II case law apply, so either the cookies and subdomains must be removed or, in practice, the site must be migrated. Asking visitors to consent to a defunct service is poor practice. ## **How to migrate** Adobe documented several migration paths to Magento, Adobe Experience Manager and third party platforms such as WordPress, Webflow, Shopify and Squarespace. Treat the migration as a full site relaunch: replatform the CMS, export the customer database, replace forms with EU friendly equivalents and verify that no BC subdomain is still referenced in the code. ## **Data transfers** Adobe Inc. is incorporated in the United States. Even residual BC traffic therefore qualifies as a third country transfer that must be terminated through migration rather than legitimised through consent on a non functional service. ## **Practical compliance steps** Inventory all BC subdomains and cookies in the codebase, plan a full migration, communicate the change to customers, archive any remaining BC data, and document the cleanup in your records of processing activities. Compliance ## Business Catalyst and the GDPR Business Catalyst is classified as “Unclassified”. On a site that targets European visitors, it must only load after the visitor consents, and it must be listed in your cookie policy. - Legal basis Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) for any residual Business Catalyst cookies; in practice the recommendation is full migration off the platform - Risk level high - Applicable regulations GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, EU-US Data Privacy Framework, French Loi Informatique et Libertés ### Impact assessment (DPIA) A formal DPIA is moot for a discontinued product, but the residual cookies and BC subdomains create a real risk of leaking EU visitor data to Adobe US. Operators should treat any detection as a tag and content migration incident, not as ongoing processing. ### Sample text for your banner > Legacy Business Catalyst code was detected on this page. The Adobe service has been discontinued, but the page may still set Adobe cookies and contact BC subdomains. By accepting, you allow these residual cookies; the safer option is to migrate the site away from Business Catalyst. Cookies and trackers ## What Business Catalyst sets and contacts - Tracking method Adobe hosted website builder retired in March 2021; legacy installations continue to set Adobe BC session cookies, BC analytics cookies and load remaining adobebc subdomains until full migration - Server location Historically Adobe data centres in the United States, Australia and Europe; the service is no longer operational - Data transferred outside the EU Even though the platform is shut down, residual cookies and beacon calls reach Adobe Inc. infrastructure in the United States. Sites still pointing to BC subdomains effectively send EU visitor data to a third country. ### Cookies set (2) | Name | Type | Duration | Purpose | | -------------------- | ------------------ | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | BC\_SI | Strictly necessary | Session | Business Catalyst session identifier still set by legacy BC integrations. | | BC\_OBSCURE\_VISITOR | Analytics | 1 year | Long lived BC visitor cookie used by the BC analytics module before the service was retired. | ### Third-party domains contacted (4) - `businesscatalyst.com` - `worldsecuresystems.com` - `adobebc.com` - `adobe.com` Questions ## Frequently asked questions about Business Catalyst Can't find your question? Write to us, we answer fast. [Write to us](https://www.flowconsent.com/en/demo) ### What cookies does Business Catalyst still set? Legacy BC integrations can still set BC session cookies (BC\_SI), admin cookies and BC analytics cookies. Scripts also load from worldsecuresystems.com, businesscatalyst.com and adobebc.com. ### Do I need consent to keep a Business Catalyst integration? Yes if any cookie or third party script remains. Because the service is discontinued, the right answer is migration, not collecting consent for a defunct platform. ### What is the legal basis for residual Business Catalyst processing? Consent is the only realistic basis if any BC code remains. Legitimate interest is unsupportable when the destination service no longer exists. ### Does Business Catalyst transfer data to the United States? Yes. Adobe Inc. is US based, and any residual BC traffic flows to US infrastructure. Migration is the cleanest way to terminate the transfer. ### Do I need a DPIA for Business Catalyst? In practice no, because the service is dead. The expected response is migration and tag cleanup, not a DPIA on a non functional product. ### How do I implement compliance for legacy Business Catalyst code? Inventory BC subdomains and cookies, migrate the site to a supported CMS, export the BC customer database, replace forms, and remove every reference to worldsecuresystems.com or adobebc.com. ### What are the alternatives to Business Catalyst? Adobe officially recommended Magento and Adobe Experience Manager. EU friendly alternatives for small businesses include WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, IONOS MyWebsite and Strikingly with EU hosting. ### How should I update my cookie policy after migrating off Business Catalyst? Remove every reference to BC, confirm that no Adobe BC cookies are still set, replace the section with the documentation of your new platform, and add a periodic dead tag audit. 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