An SSL certificate (now technically a TLS certificate) is a digital credential that authenticates a website’s identity and enables encrypted communication between the web server and visitors’ browsers. When installed, it activates the HTTPS protocol and displays the padlock icon in the browser address bar.
The certificate contains the domain owner’s public key and is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) after verifying domain ownership. SSL/TLS certificates come in three validation levels: Domain Validation (DV), Organisation Validation (OV), and Extended Validation (EV), each offering increasing levels of identity assurance.
Single-domain certificates protect one domain name. Wildcard certificates cover a domain and all its subdomains, useful for organisations with multiple services on subdomains. Multi-domain (SAN) certificates protect several different domain names under one certificate.
Free certificates from providers like Let’s Encrypt offer DV-level encryption suitable for most websites, while paid certificates from commercial CAs provide OV or EV validation, warranty coverage, and dedicated support. Choosing the right certificate type depends on the organisation’s size, infrastructure complexity, and compliance requirements.
HTTPS is a baseline requirement for GDPR compliance; transmitting personal data over unencrypted connections exposes organisations to enforcement action. SSL certificates also protect the integrity of consent management interactions: when a user grants or withdraws cookie consent through Seers’ CMP, HTTPS ensures that consent signals cannot be intercepted or manipulated in transit.
Additionally, Google requires HTTPS for sites using Consent Mode v2 and server-side tagging. An SSL certificate is therefore not just a security measure but a foundational element of a compliant data collection infrastructure.
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