A freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous agreement to processing — and one of the six lawful bases.
Under the GDPR, consent must be a clear affirmative act: freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. Pre-ticked boxes, silence or inactivity do not count, and consent must be as easy to withdraw as it was to give.
Consent is only one of six lawful bases, and often not the best one for a business relationship — but for cookies, marketing and special-category data it is frequently required.
In the Regulation
Related terms
Lawful basisOne of the six legal grounds in Article 6 that every act of processing must rely on.Explicit consentA higher standard of consent — an express statement — required to process special-category data or for certain transfers.Cookie consentThe requirement to obtain valid consent before setting non-essential cookies and similar trackers.Legitimate interestA flexible lawful basis for processing that is necessary for a genuine interest, balanced against the individual's rights.
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