diff --git a/Block/DataLayer.php b/Block/DataLayer.php
index 35a2d45..c94558b 100755
--- a/Block/DataLayer.php
+++ b/Block/DataLayer.php
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ public function getCookieRestrictionName($store_id = null)
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @param null $store_id
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function isExternal($store_id = null)
+    {
+        return (int) $this->_gtmHelper->isExternal($store_id);
+    }       
+
     /**
      * @param null $store_id
      * @return int
diff --git a/Block/GtmCode.php b/Block/GtmCode.php
index 27b1e46..a974059 100755
--- a/Block/GtmCode.php
+++ b/Block/GtmCode.php
@@ -59,6 +59,17 @@ public function getEmbeddedAccountId()
             $this->getAccountId() . $this->_gtmHelper->getMultiContainerCode() : $this->getAccountId();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * If the GTM should be loaded externally by an third party,
+     * like an GDPR service, this function will return true
+     * and false otherwise
+     * 
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function isExternal(){
+        return $this->_gtmHelper->isExternal();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Render tag manager JS
      *
diff --git a/Helper/Data.php b/Helper/Data.php
index c4a6906..f61dc1d 100755
--- a/Helper/Data.php
+++ b/Helper/Data.php
@@ -63,6 +63,22 @@ public function isEnabled($store_id = null)
         return $accountId && $active;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Whether Tag Manager should be loaded
+     * by an external third party app
+     *
+     * @param null $store_id
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function isExternal($store_id = null)
+    {
+        return $this->scopeConfig->getValue(
+            'googletagmanager/general/external',
+            ScopeInterface::SCOPE_STORE,
+            $store_id
+        );
+    }    
+
     /**
      * @param null $store_id
      * @return string
diff --git a/etc/adminhtml/system.xml b/etc/adminhtml/system.xml
index 253422b..8a247f1 100644
--- a/etc/adminhtml/system.xml
+++ b/etc/adminhtml/system.xml
@@ -55,12 +55,24 @@
                     <label>Enable</label>
                     <source_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Source\Yesno</source_model>
                 </field>
+                <field id="external" translate="label" type="select" sortOrder="10" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
+                    <label>External</label>
+                    <source_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Source\Yesno</source_model>
+                    <comment>
+                        If you like to include GTM by your self due to an external gdpr solution for example,
+                        you need to set this to "Yes" and include GTM like described by your provider.
+                    </comment>  
+                    <depends>
+                        <field id="*/*/active">1</field>
+                    </depends>
+                </field>              
                 <field id="account" translate="label" type="text" sortOrder="20" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
                     <label>Account Number</label>
                     <comment>e.g GTM-XXXXXX</comment>
                     <validate>required-entry validate-no-html-tags</validate>
                     <depends>
                         <field id="*/*/active">1</field>
+                        <field id="*/*/external">0</field>
                     </depends>
                 </field>
                 <field id="item_variant_layer" translate="label" type="select" sortOrder="50" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
@@ -68,6 +80,7 @@
                     <source_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Source\Yesno</source_model>
                     <depends>
                         <field id="*/*/active">1</field>
+                        <field id="*/*/external">0</field>
                     </depends>
                 </field>
                 <field id="item_variant_format" translate="label" type="select" sortOrder="60" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
@@ -75,20 +88,24 @@
                     <source_model>MagePal\GoogleTagManager\Block\Adminhtml\System\Config\Form\Field\ItemVariantFormat</source_model>
                     <depends>
                         <field id="*/*/active">1</field>
+                        <field id="*/*/external">0</field>
                         <field id="*/*/item_variant_layer">1</field>
                     </depends>
                 </field>
-
                 <field id="category_layer" translate="label" type="select" sortOrder="70" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
                     <label>Add Category to data layer?</label>
                     <source_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Source\Yesno</source_model>
                     <depends>
                         <field id="*/*/active">1</field>
+                        <field id="*/*/external">0</field>
                     </depends>
                 </field>
             </group>
             <group id="gdpr" translate="label" type="text" sortOrder="11" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
                 <label>General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)</label>
+                <depends>
+                    <field id="googletagmanager/general/external">0</field>
+                </depends>
                 <field id="enabled" translate="label" type="select" sortOrder="10" showInDefault="1" showInWebsite="1" showInStore="1">
                     <label>Enable GDPR</label>
                     <source_model>Magento\Config\Model\Config\Source\Yesno</source_model>
diff --git a/etc/config.xml b/etc/config.xml
index da7d070..e72d7f5 100644
--- a/etc/config.xml
+++ b/etc/config.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
                 <item_variant_layer>0</item_variant_layer>
                 <item_variant_format>2</item_variant_format>
                 <category_layer>0</category_layer>
+                <external>0</external>                
             </general>
             <gdpr>
                 <enabled>0</enabled>
diff --git a/view/frontend/templates/iframe.phtml b/view/frontend/templates/iframe.phtml
index ec06c3d..fc2c05e 100755
--- a/view/frontend/templates/iframe.phtml
+++ b/view/frontend/templates/iframe.phtml
@@ -8,7 +8,14 @@
 /** @var $block MagePal\GoogleTagManager\Block\GtmCode **/
 ?>
 
-<!-- Google Tag Manager by MagePal -->
-<noscript><iframe src="<?= '/' . '/' ?>www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getEmbeddedAccountId() ?>"
-height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
-<!-- End Google Tag Manager by MagePal -->
+<?php
+// only include the noscript tag and iFrame
+// if the script is not loaded externally by
+// a third party...
+if(!$block->isExternal()): ?>
+    <!-- Google Tag Manager by MagePal -->
+    <noscript>
+        <iframe src="<?= '/' . '/' ?>www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getEmbeddedAccountId() ?>" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe>
+    </noscript>
+    <!-- End Google Tag Manager by MagePal -->
+<?php endif; ?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/view/frontend/templates/js.phtml b/view/frontend/templates/js.phtml
index 4569b4b..78de937 100755
--- a/view/frontend/templates/js.phtml
+++ b/view/frontend/templates/js.phtml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ $containerCode = $block->getEmbeddedCode();
 <script type="text/javascript">
     window.<?= /* @noEscape */ $dataLayerName ?> = window.<?= /* @noEscape */ $dataLayerName ?> || [];
 
-<?php if (!$block->isGdprEnabled() && $block->addJsInHead()): ?>
+<?php if (!$block->isExternal() && !$block->isGdprEnabled() && $block->addJsInHead()): ?>
     <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getDataLayerJs() ?>
     (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
             new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ $containerCode = $block->getEmbeddedCode();
     })(window,document,'script','<?= /* @noEscape */ $dataLayerName ?>','<?= /* @noEscape */ $accountId ?>');
 <?php endif; ?>
 </script>
-
 <?php if ($block->isGdprEnabled() || !$block->addJsInHead()): ?>
 <script type="text/x-magento-init">
     {
@@ -39,7 +38,8 @@ $containerCode = $block->getEmbeddedCode();
                 "isGdprEnabled": <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->isGdprEnabled() ?>,
                 "gdprOption": <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getGdprOption() ?>,
                 "addJsInHeader": <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->addJsInHead() ?>,
-                "containerCode": "<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getEmbeddedCode() ?>"
+                "containerCode": "<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getEmbeddedCode() ?>",
+                "isExternal": <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->isExternal() ?>
             }
         }
     }
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ $containerCode = $block->getEmbeddedCode();
     {
         "*": {
             "magepalGtmDatalayer": {
-                "dataLayer": "<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getDataLayerName() ?>"
+                "dataLayer": "<?= /* @noEscape */ $block->getDataLayerName() ?>",
+                "isExternal": <?= /* @noEscape */ $block->isExternal() ?>
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/view/frontend/web/js/datalayer.js b/view/frontend/web/js/datalayer.js
index 24bcb24..0172503 100644
--- a/view/frontend/web/js/datalayer.js
+++ b/view/frontend/web/js/datalayer.js
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ define([
     var lastPushedCart = {};
     var lastPushedCustomer = {};
 
-    //check if object contain keys
+    
+    /**
+     * The function checks if an object has keys 'customer' and 'cart' and returns true if at least one
+     * object in the array has these keys.
+     * 
+     * @param object - The `object` parameter is an object that contains multiple key-value pairs.
+     * @returns a boolean value.
+     */
     function objectKeyExist(object)
     {
         return _.some(object, function (o) {
@@ -23,7 +30,17 @@ define([
         })
     }
 
-    //Update datalayer
+    /**
+     * The function `updateDataLayer` updates the Google Tag Manager (GTM) data layer with customer and
+     * cart information if the data layer is not already defined or if forced to update.
+     * 
+     * @param _gtmDataLayer - This parameter represents the Google Tag Manager (GTM) data layer. It is
+     * an array used to store data that can be accessed by GTM tags and triggers.
+     * @param _dataObject - The `_dataObject` parameter is an object that contains information about
+     * the customer and the cart.
+     * @param _forceUpdate - A boolean value indicating whether to force an update of the data layer
+     * even if it already exists.
+     */
     function updateDataLayer(_gtmDataLayer, _dataObject, _forceUpdate)
     {
         var customer = {isLoggedIn : false},
@@ -48,6 +65,13 @@ define([
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The function checks if tracking is allowed based on the provided configuration.
+     * 
+     * @param config - The `config` parameter is an object that contains various configuration options
+     * for tracking services. It may have the following properties:
+     * @returns the value of the variable "allowServices".
+     */
     function isTrackingAllowed(config)
     {
         var allowServices = false,
@@ -75,11 +99,89 @@ define([
         return allowServices;
     }
 
-    //load gtm
-    function initTracking(dataLayerName, accountId, containerCode)
+    /**
+     * The function checks if Google Tag Manager (GTM) tracking is initialized by verifying the
+     * presence of the dataLayer object and the start event, and optionally checking the unique event
+     * ID if strict mode is enabled.
+     * 
+     * @param dataLayerName - The dataLayerName parameter is the name of the data layer object that is
+     * used by Google Tag Manager (GTM) on the website. The data layer is a JavaScript object that
+     * stores information that is used by GTM to track events and send data to various analytics and
+     * marketing tools.
+     * @param strict - The "strict" parameter is a boolean value that determines whether to perform an
+     * additional check for the "gtm.uniqueEventId" property in the start event. If set to true, the
+     * function will only return true if both the "gtm.start" and "gtm.uniqueEventId" properties
+     * @returns a boolean value. It returns true if the GTM (Google Tag Manager) tracking is
+     * initialized and ready to use, and false otherwise.
+     */
+    function isTrackingInitialized(dataLayerName, strict)
+    {
+        // without the datalayer GTM is not ready
+        if(!window[dataLayerName]){
+            return false;
+        }
+        // try to get the start event and if thats not
+        // possible, GTM is not ready
+        const startEvent = window[dataLayerName].find(element => element['gtm.start']);
+        if(!startEvent){
+            return false;
+        }
+        // if strict is true, we also check the unique id, which seems not to be
+        // set by the magepal extension... Anyway, we let the check optional, so
+        // we can use it if the behaviour changes or I missed something.
+        if(strict === true && !startEvent['gtm.uniqueEventId']){
+            return false;
+        }
+        // GTM is ready to use
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The function `initTracking` initializes tracking using Google Tag Manager, either by detecting
+     * if it was generated by an external party or by generating it internally.
+     * 
+     * @param dataLayerName - The name of the data layer object that is used to store and pass data to
+     * Google Tag Manager.
+     * @param accountId - The accountId parameter is the unique identifier for your Google Analytics
+     * account. It is used to associate the tracking data with your account.
+     * @param containerCode - The containerCode parameter is a string that represents the code or ID of
+     * the Google Tag Manager container. This container is used to manage and deploy various tracking
+     * tags and scripts on a website.
+     * @param isExternal - A boolean value indicating whether the Google Tag Manager (GTM) is generated
+     * by an external party or not. If it is true, the tracking will be initialized by waiting until
+     * GTM is ready. If it is false, the tracking will be initialized by generating it internally.
+     */
+    function initTracking(dataLayerName, accountId, containerCode, isExternal)
     {
         $(document).trigger('gtm:beforeInitialize');
+        // if true we also use the uniqueEventId of the start event
+        // to detect if GTM is ready. Seems like the extension doesn´t
+        // generate this id, our third party app does. But to keep
+        // the compatibility to the self generated dataLayer event
+        // we set it to false. However, it would be better if the
+        // extension adds this id. Or -if this would be an option-
+        //  in the administration panel.
+        const strict = false;
+        // we need to know, if we need to create the tracker by our self,
+        // or if we need to detect if the tag manager was generated
+        // by an external party (an external gdpr check for example)
+        !!isExternal
+            // initialize the tracking, by waiting until GTM is ready
+            ? initTrackingExternal(dataLayerName, strict)
+            // initialize the tracking the default way, by generating it
+            : initTrackingInternal(dataLayerName, accountId, containerCode);
+    }
 
+    /**
+     * Initialize the tracking by loading the GTM and setup
+     * the dataLayer. 
+     * 
+     * @param {string} dataLayerName 
+     * @param {string} accountId 
+     * @param {any} containerCode 
+     */
+    function initTrackingInternal(dataLayerName, accountId, containerCode)
+    {
         (function (w, d, s, l, i) {
             w[l] = w[l] || [];
             w[l].push({
@@ -92,10 +194,43 @@ define([
             j.src = '//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=' + i + dl + containerCode;
             f.parentNode.insertBefore(j, f);
         })(window, document, 'script', dataLayerName, accountId);
-
         $(document).trigger('gtm:afterInitialize');
     }
 
+
+    /**
+     * The function `initTrackingExternal` checks if GTM (Google Tag Manager) is ready and fires the
+     * "gtm:afterInitialize" event once it is.
+     * 
+     * @param dataLayerName - The dataLayerName parameter is the name of the data layer object that is
+     * used for tracking in Google Tag Manager. It is typically set to "dataLayer" by default, but it
+     * can be customized to a different name if needed.
+     * @param strict - The "strict" parameter is a boolean value that determines whether the tracking
+     * initialization check should be strict or not. If set to true, we also check the uniqueEventId
+     * value, which should be defined in the start event
+     */
+    function initTrackingExternal(dataLayerName, strict)
+    {
+        // now we can just check if gtm is ready. An interval seems to be fair for
+        // that check but if you find a better way, just change it ;)
+        const checkInterval = setInterval(() => {
+            // if GTM is ready we can clear  the interval
+            // and fire the "gtm:afterInitialize" event
+            if(isTrackingInitialized(dataLayerName, strict)){
+                clearInterval(checkInterval);
+                $(document).trigger('gtm:afterInitialize');
+            }
+        }, 100);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The function "pushData" pushes data from an array into a specified data layer.
+     * 
+     * @param dataLayerName - The dataLayerName parameter is the name of the data layer object that you
+     * want to push data into.
+     * @param dataLayer - The `dataLayer` parameter is an array that contains data objects to be pushed
+     * into the `dataLayerName` data layer.
+     */
     function pushData(dataLayerName, dataLayer)
     {
         if (_.isArray(dataLayer)) {
@@ -109,9 +244,9 @@ define([
 
         window[config.dataLayer] = window[config.dataLayer] || [];
 
-        if (_.has(config, 'accountId') && isTrackingAllowed(config)) {
+        if ((_.has(config, 'accountId') || !!config.isExternal) && isTrackingAllowed(config)) {
             pushData(config.dataLayer, config.data);
-            initTracking(config.dataLayer, config.accountId, config.containerCode);
+            initTracking(config.dataLayer, config.accountId, config.containerCode, config.isExternal);
         }
 
         var dataObject = customerData.get('magepal-gtm-jsdatalayer');