Express and Implied Consent in Free Cookie Consent

Choose whether your scripts wait for an answer by default or run at once

With the default settings, express consent holds every tagged script outside strictly-necessary until the visitor accepts its category, and implied consent runs them on page load. TermsFeed Free Cookie Consent uses express consent unless you set consent_type to "implied".

Express consent holds optional tagged scripts by default until the visitor agrees

In express mode, each optional tagged script waits until the visitor accepts its category, unless page_load_consent_levels lists that category. The consent banner offers the "I agree", "I decline", and "Change my preferences" buttons. The held scripts run the moment the visitor clicks the "I agree" button or saves a category as active in the Preferences Center. The page does not reload.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) defines consent as a "clear affirmative action" in Article 4(11), and the ePrivacy Directive requires consent before non-essential cookies are stored.

Implied consent runs every category you use on page load by default

In implied mode, every category you use runs on page load by default, and the consent banner shows the "OK" and "Change my preferences" buttons, with no "I decline" button. The "OK" button accepts every category you use and hides the consent banner. A visitor who wants to refuse opens the Preferences Center, turns categories off, and saves. Tagged scripts that already ran keep running until the next page load. A page reload after each answer stops those scripts at once. Find what Google tags receive without a reload in Reload the Page After Consent.

Implied mode writes the cookie_consent_user_consent_token cookie on the first page load, before any answer, unless demo is on. In the generator, implied consent is the option labeled "ePrivacy Directive", a label that does not match what that directive requires.

How to choose between express and implied consent

Let the location of your visitors decide the consent type, and pick express consent whenever you are unsure. Cookie Consent shows the same consent banner to every visitor. On a site set to implied consent, tagged scripts therefore run by default for a visitor from the European Union (EU) before any answer. Read which laws require a consent banner and for which cookies in Do I Need a Cookie Banner? EU, UK, and US Rules.

Untagged scripts run on page load in both consent types, because Cookie Consent holds only the scripts you tag.

Release some categories on page load with page_load_consent_levels

The page_load_consent_levels option lists the categories that run on page load before the visitor answers, in both consent types. Every optional category outside page_load_consent_levels waits for the answer. The switches in the Preferences Center show the categories in page_load_consent_levels as on until the visitor answers. The "I agree" button, or the "OK" button in implied mode, still accepts every category you use.

The generator writes this option into your code, so the code shows what runs before the answer. It writes ["strictly-necessary"] for express consent and all 4 categories for implied consent.

This configuration runs functionality scripts, such as a chat widget, before the answer in express mode.

cookieconsent.run({
  "consent_type": "express",
  "page_load_consent_levels": ["strictly-necessary", "functionality"]
});

An empty array does not run any optional category in either mode. The option applies only to visitors who have not answered; after an answer, the saved choice decides.

How to set the consent type in your code

Set consent_type to "express" or "implied" in the object you pass to cookieconsent.run(). The value ignores case, and an unknown value gives express consent. Visitors who already answered keep their answer when you change the consent type, so the change applies only to visitors who have not answered. A switch from implied to express needs page_load_consent_levels set to ["strictly-necessary"] too, or the implied-consent value of the generator, all 4 categories, keeps the optional tagged scripts running before the answer. Look up consent_type and the other options in Free Cookie Consent API Reference.

Check which tagged scripts run before the answer on your site.

1. Deploy your consent_type change and clear any page cache.
2. Close every private window and open a new one.
3. Open DevTools on the Network tab, filter it on the host of an optional tagged script, such as googletagmanager.com for a tagged Google tag, and then load your site.
4. Read the requests. In express mode with page_load_consent_levels left out or at ["strictly-necessary"], no request appears before a click on the "I agree" button. In implied mode with page_load_consent_levels left out or at the generator value, the requests appear on page load. An untagged Google tag under Consent Mode loads from googletagmanager.com before the answer by design. In express mode, open the Application tab instead, and confirm that no _ga cookie appears before the answer.