Consent with pre-ticked boxes

In “Planet49” (C-673/17, judgment of 1 October 2019) the CJEU held that a pre-ticked box does not constitute valid consent: agreement requires an active choice. Relying on it means processing without a legal basis.

Deliberately narrow: only visible, non-disabled boxes within the consent interface. Disabled boxes are typically the strictly necessary categories that need not be deselectable — they do not trigger a finding. Neither does a checkbox in a checkout form.

If the interface cannot be assessed (banner inside an iframe), the scan says nothing rather than guessing.