Assumed Consent

Assumed consent refers to treating user inaction, default settings, or passive behavior as consent. Instead of capturing a clear affirmative signal, consent is inferred, often through pre-selected options or continued usage. While this may simplify user flows, it removes certainty around user intent and weakens the validity of consent.

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, consent must be free, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Assumed consent fails this standard because it cannot demonstrate that the user knowingly agreed to data processing. The issue is not just how consent is taken, but whether it can be proven when challenged.

In practice, risks concentrate around:

• There is no proof of intent because the user action is not explicitly captured.
• Consent is driven by design, where pre-selected choices lead to unintended acceptance.
• Permissions are bundled, making consent non-specific to a clear purpose.
• This leads to audit failure, as valid consent cannot be demonstrated when required.

To address this, organizations shift to explicit, action-based consent capture where every approval is intentional, recorded, and linked to purpose. This ensures consent is not only obtained but also defensible. Within Privy, this is supported through consent lifecycle management and audit trails, enabling organizations to move from inferred consent to verifiable, compliant consent.