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AccuWeather is a US based weather information provider whose widgets and API are embedded on countless news sites, tourism portals, e commerce stores and outdoor activity platforms across Europe. The embedded widget loads JavaScript from oap.accuweather.com, transmits the visitor IP address to AccuWeather, Inc. servers in the United States and may request precise geolocation. Because of these flows it qualifies as a non strictly necessary third party tag requiring consent in the EU.
AccuWeather is a global weather information provider headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania. It offers consumer apps for iOS and Android, an embeddable widget for websites and a developer REST API for businesses that want to integrate weather forecasts in their own products. The web widget is widely used by tourism portals, real estate sites, e commerce stores selling outdoor gear, news media and local government websites. The MinuteCast minute by minute forecast and the air quality data are the two most distinctive features.
The embedded widget transmits the visitor IP address, User Agent, referrer, page URL and approximate location (IP based) to AccuWeather servers. It may request precise geolocation via the browser API to deliver hyperlocal forecasts. AccuWeather sets cookies such as awxlocation, awxbidcookie and several advertising related cookies (when ads are enabled on the widget) including those of its advertising partners (Google, Magnite, OpenX). The mobile SDK previously shared precise location with multiple data brokers; AccuWeather has since refined those practices but caution is warranted.
The widget is a third party tag that loads automatically and sets cookies before any user action, which puts it under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. The IP address transfer to the US triggers Chapter V GDPR. The free advertising supported version of the widget pulls in advertising cookies that have their own consent obligations. The paid white label version is cleaner because it does not include ad partners but still ships the location and IP transfer.
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Yes. The widget must be gated behind a consent banner under the Functional or Marketing category. The precise geolocation prompt that the widget may issue is also subject to the user explicit permission via the browser. If you use the server side API only and render weather server side, no consent is needed because no third party request is made from the browser.
AccuWeather, Inc. is a US company. AccuWeather is currently listed under the EU US Data Privacy Framework, which provides an adequacy decision for transfers to certified entities. The privacy notice for the widget should reference the DPF and the SCC fallback present in the standard AccuWeather terms.
Gate the AccuWeather widget behind your consent manager, prefer the paid ad free white label widget where possible, route the precise geolocation prompt through your own UI to keep control, or switch to a server side integration that renders the weather data without the widget script. List AccuWeather, Inc. in the privacy policy with the transfer mechanism. Consider EU alternatives like OpenWeather (UK), Météo France API, MeteoStat or Visual Crossing for less aggressive data flows.
Websites using AccuWeather must obtain user consent under GDPR regulations.
DPIA considerations
A DPIA is rarely justified by AccuWeather alone but should be considered if the site combines the widget with personalised advertising, precise geolocation prompts or behavioural targeting. Document the integration in the Article 30 record, the US transfer mechanism and the categories of data sent to AccuWeather.
Sample consent text
We display weather information from AccuWeather. Loading the widget sends your IP address and approximate location to AccuWeather, Inc. in the United States and may set cookies. Do you accept?
Third-party domains contacted
oap.accuweather.comwidgets.accuweather.comapi.accuweather.comdeveloper.accuweather.comaccuweather.comawxcdn.comCookies placed
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| awxlocation | third party | 1 year | Stores the user's selected location for the AccuWeather widget so the same forecast is shown on next visit. |
| awxbidcookie | third party | 1 year | Used by AccuWeather to enable header bidding when the ad supported widget variant is enabled. |
| awxlocations | third party | 1 year | Stores the user's favourite locations across visits for the AccuWeather widget personalisation. |
| IDE | third party | 13 months | Google DoubleClick cookie set by the ad supported AccuWeather widget for ad measurement. |
| uid | third party | 1 year | Magnite (Rubicon Project) cookie set by the ad supported widget for programmatic advertising. |
| _ga | third party | 2 years | Google Analytics cookie set on accuweather.com to measure usage of the AccuWeather web properties. |
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It sets cookies such as awxlocation, awxbidcookie, awxlocations and, when the ad supported variant is used, third party advertising cookies from Google, Magnite, OpenX and others. None are strictly necessary for the visitor to access the host page.
Yes. The widget loads scripts and sets cookies before the user interacts; consent is required under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. If you use the geolocation prompt, the user must also accept the browser permission.
Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Art. 5(3) ePrivacy). For purely server side use of the API, you can rely on legitimate interest under Article 6(1)(f) since no third party tag is exposed to the visitor.
Yes. AccuWeather, Inc. is a US company and processes the IP address and the location data on US infrastructure. The EU US Data Privacy Framework certification covers the transfer.
Not on its own. When combined with personalised advertising, precise location based offers or large scale profiling, a DPIA is justified. Always document the integration in the Article 30 record.
Gate it behind a consent banner, choose the white label paid widget without advertising, render weather server side through the API where possible, manage the geolocation prompt yourself, and list AccuWeather, Inc. with the EU US Data Privacy Framework in the privacy policy.
OpenWeather (UK), Météo France API, Meteomatics (Switzerland), DWD OpenData (Germany), MeteoStat, Visual Crossing, Tomorrow.io, and EU government open data services. Many can be queried server side without exposing visitors to a third party tag.
Add an entry under Functional or Marketing: provider (AccuWeather, Inc., USA), domains (oap.accuweather.com, widgets.accuweather.com, api.accuweather.com), cookies (awxlocation, awxbidcookie, advertising cookies if applicable), purpose (display weather) and transfer mechanism (Data Privacy Framework and SCCs).