New Draft Consent Guidelines Under The GDPR: What You Need To Know

Introduction

On November 28, 2017, the Article 29 Working Party ("WP29"), the group representing national data protection authorities in the European Union, adopted a draft of the "Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679" (the "Guidelines"). The draft is open for comments until January 23, 2018.

The Guidelines build on the WP29 "Opinion on the definition of consent" (the "Opinion"), which was adopted in July 2011. The Opinion assessed the notion of consent under Directive 95/46 (the "Data Protection Directive"). The new draft of the Guidelines reflects the evolution of the concept of consent under the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR").

Key Takeaways

Under the GDPR, higher standards apply for obtaining a valid consent. The GDPR requires consent to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. In addition, consent must be based on a clear affirmative action, and individuals must be able to withdraw it at any time.