Under the European Union’s privacy regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a website most obtain consent before collecting any data.
Prior consent is the act of gathering consent from a user before placing any cookies that can identify the user on their device.
When a user loads a website, cookies are placed on their device. However, under the EU’s GDPR and ePrivacy Directive, the site owner must obtain consent before gathering any data. This process is referred to as prior consent, as it is the act of obtaining consent prior to collecting data on the user.