What Makes Cookie Consent Valid? Six Checks for Your Banner
Many websites show a cookie banner and assume the job is done. Yet if the consent behind your analytics and ad data doesn't meet the legal standard, the data built on it becomes hard to rely on, and your reports rest on choices that don't count. What valid consent means Under the GDPR, consent has to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous, shown through a clear affirmative act. Recital 32 adds that "Silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity should not therefore constitute consent." In January 2023, the European Data Protection Board published a report from its cookie banner taskforce. It sets out shared positions that EU regulators use when they handle complaints. Six of them make a useful checklist for any website owner. Six checks for your banner 1. Reject sits on the same layer as Accept. A majority of authorities in the taskforce said a layer with an accept button and no reject option does not meet the requirements for valid consent. 2. Every b...