Are pre-printed checkmarks a CONSENT?
There are many ways to generate leads or sell additional services that consumers have not directly asked for. Most of them are familiar and transparent to the consumer: boxes with pre-checked checkboxes that imply "I'm not saying anything and I agree". Or lengthy letters with legal disclaimers that quickly make the consumer scroll down to a "Continue"!
It's over from 2018!
The new General Data Protection Regulation requires clarity and fairness in the consent rules! Consent must be given actively, voluntarily and after clear information in reasonable amounts! It could be a box where you have to actively check a box as consent. Or it could be a pop-up box that briefly and accurately describes to you what you are about to do. And what the consequences are:
or
Notice also the word "reasonableness". The lengthy disclaimers that come with Apple's software updates, for example, are a good example of unreasonable consent conditions that result in them being read by very few consumers. In the future, disclaimers that rarely see the light of day will never be recognized as anything other than a sleazy attempt to mislead the consumer. This is one of the finest points of the GDPR.
