Capture consent and preferences across all channels

A Consent & Preference Manager is a platform that helps organizations collect, store, and manage customer consent and preference choices across configured channels; websites, mobile applications, email, advertising, CRM, and marketing systems.

It can help coordinate choices about communications, product interests, advertising, profiling, data use, and disclosure, depending on the organization’s configuration and applicable law. Unlike a cookie consent manager, which primarily handles cookies and device-level trackers, a Consent & Preference Manager is designed for broader brand, marketing, zero-party, and first-party preferences.

TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager supports no-code integrations through 300+ connectors, including Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, Adobe Experience Platform, and Mailchimp.

A preference center is a user-facing page where people can view and update their communication and data-use choices, giving individuals more granular control than a one-time consent prompt. For example, someone might choose to receive product emails while declining retargeting or selecting a different communication channel.

For businesses, a preference center supports more transparent interactions and provides evidence of the preferences an individual selected. Where processing is based on consent, the GDPR requires withdrawal to be as easy as giving it. A preference center can support that requirement, but it does not by itself establish compliance. Notices, consent choices, records, and downstream systems must also be properly configured.

A Cookie Consent Manager primarily captures and manages choices about cookies, trackers, and other device-level technologies. A Consent & Preference Manager handles broader brand, marketing, zero-party, and first-party preferences across configured channels such as email, SMS, push notifications, and customer preference forms.

The two products are complementary: a Cookie Consent Manager can cover website and device-level tracking choices, while a Consent & Preference Manager synchronizes communication and customer preferences with CRM, marketing, advertising, and other business systems. Each system must be configured to receive and apply the relevant choice.

Consent orchestration is the process of sending a person’s consent and preference changes through configured integrations to the systems that need to act on them; for example, a change made in a preference center being sent to a CRM, email platform, or advertising system.

TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager supports no-code integrations and real-time or near-real-time synchronization for supported connectors. Timing, field mappings, identity matching, and downstream enforcement vary by system, and organizations should verify that each destination applies the relevant preference correctly.

When a person changes a preference, the Consent & Preference Manager can send the mapped update to configured marketing, CRM, advertising, or communication systems. Whether a destination suppresses an email contact, updates a CRM record, removes a person from an advertising audience, or changes tracking behavior depends on the connector, field mapping, destination API, and customer implementation.

Some integrations support event-driven or real-time updates; others use different processing methods. TrustArc offers 300+ connectors, and available actions, timing, and integration direction differ by connector.

No privacy law generally requires an organization to use a particular consent-preference platform. However, many laws make it operationally important to collect, document, honor, and update consent, preferences, and opt-outs.

Under GDPR and UK GDPR, when consent is used as a lawful basis, organizations must demonstrate that valid consent was obtained and that individuals can withdraw it as easily as they gave it. EU ePrivacy laws may separately require consent for non-exempt cookies and certain electronic marketing. California’s CCPA requires covered businesses to honor opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control. LGPD, PIPEDA, and US state privacy laws contain their own requirements. Applicability depends on processing activity, jurisdiction, audience, and implementation.

First-party data is information an organization collects directly through its own channels; a website, mobile application, purchase, loyalty program, or direct interaction. Zero-party data is information a person intentionally provides, such as product interests or communication preferences.

TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager can help capture, document, and synchronize choices associated with zero-party and first-party data. However, the source of data does not determine the legal basis for processing. Notice, purpose limitation, consent or opt-out requirements, and downstream platform rules still apply independently.

A consent audit trail records consent or preference events for an individual or identifier, including when the choice was made, the purpose, the collection method, the selected option, the relevant notice or form version, and any later changes or withdrawals.

Under GDPR and UK GDPR, when an organization relies on consent, it must demonstrate that valid consent was obtained. TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager provides consent history, exportable reports, and form-version information to support this evidence. Exact records available depend on the collection channel, configuration, and retention settings.

TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager supports tokenized or JWT-based magic links, including customized unsubscribe links in outgoing email. When configured with the appropriate identifiers and preference settings, a magic link can display or pre-populate relevant information without requiring the person to re-enter it.

Delivery channel, expiration, revocation, and implementation details vary. Magic links should be treated as bearer credentials. Organizations should use secure token settings and avoid exposing unnecessary personal information in URLs.

Mobile applications require app-specific consent experiences, SDK controls, and operating-system permissions. On iOS, App Tracking Transparency governs tracking across apps and websites owned by other companies and is separate from general privacy consent.

TrustArc supports mobile consent SDKs, and configured Consent & Preference Manager integrations can synchronize brand and marketing preferences across supported channels. The mobile application must still implement the logic needed to honor those choices. Note that a website preference does not replace App Tracking Transparency authorization, and push notification permission is not by itself consent to receive marketing communications.

Granular consent gives people separate choices for clearly described purposes, channels, or data uses; for example, analytics, marketing, advertising, personalization, or particular communication channels.

Under GDPR and UK GDPR, consent must be specific, informed, freely given, and unambiguous. Bundling unrelated purposes or making withdrawal difficult can undermine validity. An “Accept All” option may be offered alongside purpose-level choices if purposes are clear and the individual retains a genuine choice. Granular choices can improve transparency and user control; engagement and opt-in results vary by audience, design, and context.

Build the strategy around the processing activity and applicable legal scope. Consider the organization’s establishment, targeting or monitoring activities, the individual’s location where relevant, the data and purpose involved, and any sector-specific requirements, not geolocation alone.

Configure purpose- and channel-specific experiences, including California sale or sharing opt-outs and Global Privacy Control where applicable, and ensure preferences are communicated to the systems that need to honor them. TrustArc’s Consent & Preference Manager supports 60+ languages, geolocation-based experiences, and configurable jurisdiction rules. Customers remain responsible for configuring and updating those rules and for underlying legal analysis.

Evaluate channel coverage, supported integration directions, connector-specific timing and field mappings, identity handling, failure monitoring, jurisdiction and purpose controls, audit evidence, and preference-center flexibility.

Confirm which capabilities are included in the relevant product edition and which require implementation work. No-code tools can reduce development effort for supported forms and integrations, but custom integrations, identity matching, mobile SDKs, and downstream enforcement may still require engineering support.