Granular Consent
The ability for users to accept or reject different categories of cookies or data processing activities individually.
Granular consent refers to the requirement that individuals must be able to consent to different types of data processing or cookie categories separately, rather than being presented with a single all-or-nothing choice. Under the GDPR, consent must be specific to each purpose, meaning a website cannot bundle consent for analytics tracking with consent for advertising cookies into a single accept button.
Implementing granular consent means providing a preference center or settings modal where users can toggle individual cookie categories (necessary, analytics, marketing, functional) on or off independently. Each category must be clearly explained with information about what cookies it includes, who sets them, and what they are used for. The system must then enforce these choices technically, only loading scripts that correspond to accepted categories. Regulators have repeatedly emphasized that genuine choice is a cornerstone of valid consent, and bundled or all-or-nothing consent mechanisms are non-compliant.