Consent Management
The processes, tools, and policies an organization uses to collect, record, manage, and honor individuals' consent for the processing of their personal data, ensuring compliance with requirements for freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent.
Consent management is a critical operational capability for organizations that rely on consent as a legal basis for processing personal data under GDPR. Article 7 of GDPR sets a high bar for valid consent: it must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Organizations must be able to demonstrate that consent was obtained (accountability principle), and individuals must be able to withdraw their consent as easily as they gave it. This means that simple pre-ticked checkboxes, bundled consent, or vague permission statements are insufficient. Each processing purpose typically requires its own specific consent, and the organization must maintain auditable records of when and how consent was obtained.
Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) have emerged as specialized tools to handle these requirements at scale. A CMP typically provides cookie consent banners, preference centers where users can granularly control their data processing choices, consent receipt storage for audit purposes, and integration with downstream systems to ensure that consent decisions are honored throughout the data processing chain. Modern CMPs also support features like consent synchronization across devices, geo-targeted consent experiences (showing different options based on the user's jurisdiction), and integration with advertising and analytics platforms to enforce consent-based data processing restrictions.
Beyond GDPR, consent management is relevant to other frameworks and regulations. ISO 27001's organizational controls require documented policies for data handling, which include consent procedures. SOC 2's Privacy criteria address notice and consent mechanisms. Various national privacy laws (such as LGPD in Brazil and POPIA in South Africa) have their own consent requirements that consent management systems must accommodate. For SaaS companies, effective consent management is both a compliance necessity and a trust-building exercise — transparent, user-friendly consent experiences demonstrate respect for user privacy and can differentiate a product in privacy-conscious markets. Organizations should regularly review their consent mechanisms, update them as legal requirements evolve, and audit downstream compliance to ensure that consent preferences are being respected end to end.
Related terms
Data Controller
Under GDPR, the entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. The data controller decides why personal data is collected and how it will be used, and bears primary responsibility for compliance with data protection obligations.
Data Protection Officer
A designated role within an organization responsible for overseeing data protection strategy and compliance with GDPR. Appointment of a DPO is mandatory for public authorities, organizations conducting large-scale systematic monitoring, and those processing special category data at scale.
Privacy by Design
An approach to system engineering and business practices that embeds privacy protections into the design and architecture of IT systems, processes, and products from the outset, rather than adding them as an afterthought.
Purpose Limitation
The principle that personal data must be collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner incompatible with those original purposes.
Right to Erasure
A data subject's right under GDPR (Article 17) to request the deletion of their personal data when it is no longer necessary, when consent is withdrawn, or when the data was unlawfully processed. Also commonly known as the 'right to be forgotten.'
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