Consent
Data & TrackingAlso: User Consent · Marketing Consent
Quick definition
Consent in marketing is a person's permission to collect their data or contact them. To count, it generally has to be informed, specific and freely given, meaning the person understood what they agreed to and was not forced or tricked into it. Consent underpins lawful tracking, email marketing and most modern privacy compliance, and getting it right is the foundation everything else sits on.
Where it shows up in the data
The three tests genuine consent has to pass. The person understood it, it covers a defined purpose and it was a real choice, not a forced condition.
Express consent is an active opt-in and is safest. Inferred consent relies on an existing relationship and is narrower and riskier.
You need to be able to prove you had consent and to honour its withdrawal easily, which is both a legal requirement and good practice.
What it actually means
Consent is the permission that makes data collection and marketing contact legitimate. Across privacy and spam regimes the standard is consistent: consent should be informed, so the person knows what they are agreeing to, specific, so it covers a defined purpose rather than a vague catch-all, and freely given, so it is a real choice rather than a forced condition. Consent can be express, where the person actively opts in, or in some contexts inferred from an existing relationship, though express consent is safer and clearer. It also has to be recorded and revocable, so you can prove you had it and honour a withdrawal. The practical payoff is that consent-based marketing produces audiences that actually want to hear from you, which is both lower risk and higher performing.
Consent is not a checkbox you trick someone into ticking. It is permission you can actually rely on.
How it shows up
Consent shows up as opt-in rates on your forms and banners, as the permission records behind your database and as the withdrawal rate when people unsubscribe or opt out. Healthy consent shows up later as engagement, because the audience actually wanted to be there.
The Australian context
In Australia, the Spam Act requires consent to send commercial electronic messages, and the Privacy Act review has flagged stronger, clearer consent standards for data collection. Consent that is buried, bundled or assumed is exactly what reform is targeting.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
What is consent in marketing?
It is a person's permission to collect their data or contact them. To count, it generally has to be informed, specific and freely given, so the person understood what they agreed to and was not forced or tricked.
Why does consent matter?
It makes tracking and marketing contact lawful, and consent-based audiences engage better and carry less risk. Regulators increasingly treat manipulated or bundled consent as no consent.
Is consent required in Australia?
Yes for commercial email and SMS under the Spam Act, and privacy reform is moving toward stronger, clearer consent standards for data collection generally. Buried or assumed consent is what reform targets.
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About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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