Consent management is the capture, storage, and enforcement of a customer's choices about how their personal data may be used, such as marketing communications or data sharing with third parties. Mature implementations version each consent record and make it auditable, since regulations such as GDPR require organizations to demonstrate what a customer agreed to and when.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a mandatory and an optional consent?
Mandatory consents (like terms of service) must be accepted before access is granted; optional consents (like marketing opt-ins) don't block access if declined.
Do customers have to re-accept consent every time it's updated?
Only for major version changes; minor updates like fixing a typo don't require re-acceptance.
How does consent management apply to AI agents?
It extends to a new category called delegated consent, where the customer approves what a specific agent can do rather than what a marketer can send them. See delegated consent.
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