What is Prior Consent?
Prior consent is the legal requirement that a website must get a user’s explicit permission before it can run any non-essential scripts or store any non-essential cookies on their device.
Think of it as a website’s “gate.” When you first land on a website, the site’s code should effectively be paused. It is only after the visitor clicks “Accept” (or choose specific categories) that the website is allowed to “fire” those scripts.
How Elementor Cookie Consent handles Prior Consent
For Cookie Consent, Prior Consent is handled by the scripts blocking setting. Each script has a locking status:
- Always Block: The script never executes, regardless of user consent.
- Block Until Consent: The script is blocked until the user consents to its assigned category. This is the default for non-essential scripts in GDPR (opt-in) mode.
- Never Block: The script always executes, bypassing the consent engine. Use this for essential scripts that are not automatically detected as Necessary.
Essential vs. Non-Essential
The rule of prior consent does not apply to all scripts. Privacy laws generally distinguish between two types:
- Strictly Necessary (Exempt): These are cookies required for the site to function—for example, keeping items in a shopping cart or ensuring the site is secure. These can be set without prior consent.
- Non-Essential (Requires Prior Consent): This includes everything else, such as:
- Analytics: Tracking how you move through the site.
- Marketing/Targeting: Building a profile to show you specific ads.
- Social Media: Scripts that allow “Like” buttons or embedded feeds to track your activity.
For details about how to set and edit scripts’ blocking status, see How to manage Cookies and Scripts with Elementor Cookie Consent.