What Is Consent?
Consent is under the GDPR, any freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of a data subject's wishes by which they signify agreement, through a statement or clear affirmative action, to the processing of their personal data.
Consent — under the GDPR, any freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of a data subject's wishes by which they signify agreement, through a statement or clear affirmative action, to the processing of their personal data.
Consent is one of the GDPR's six lawful bases, but a demanding one: it must be a clear affirmative act, as easy to withdraw as to give, and not bundled or coerced. For AI, consent is often the wrong tool for large-scale model training — regulators frequently expect a different basis (such as legitimate interest) with its own safeguards.
Source: GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), Articles 4(11) and 7
Plain-language explanation
Consent is one of the GDPR's six lawful bases, but a demanding one: it must be a clear affirmative act, as easy to withdraw as to give, and not bundled or coerced. For AI, consent is often the wrong tool for large-scale model training — regulators frequently expect a different basis (such as legitimate interest) with its own safeguards.
Related terms
See where you stand on AI governance
Take the free 7-question maturity assessment and get a personalised action plan.
Free assessment — 3 minutes →