Consent-or-pay: Difference between revisions

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Consent-or-pay is an emerging business tactic in response to the passing of the [[General Data Protection Regulation|General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)]] where viewers of a website must either accept all cookies for ads or pay a small sum to avoid data tracking. This tactic is controversial to consumers and policymakers alike and is viewed by many as coercive. However, it has ~~worked enough to the point where, as~~ of August of 2025, 16 out of 50 ~~of the biggest~~ of the biggest UK news websites have ~~enacted this practice~~.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Gazette, More UK news publishers are adopting ‘consent or pay’ advertising model |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/marketing/consent-or-pay-uk-publishers-advertising-2025/}}</ref>

Consent-or-pay is an emerging business tactic in response to the passing of the [[General Data Protection Regulation|General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)]] where viewers of a website must either accept all cookies for targeted ads or pay a small monthly sum to avoid data tracking. This tactic is controversial to consumers and policymakers alike and is viewed by many as coercive. However, the tactic has proven effective and is gaining wider adoption. As of August of 2025, 16 out of 50 of the biggest UK news websites have implemented consent-or-pay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Gazette, More UK news publishers are adopting ‘consent or pay’ advertising model |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/marketing/consent-or-pay-uk-publishers-advertising-2025/}}</ref>

== Background ==

''Main wiki:'' [[General Data Protection Regulation]]

==How it works==

When viewing a website, consumers are greeted with a pop-up display on the use of cookies. Instead of the usual Accept or Reject options, users are now greeted with Accept or Pay, often with a small sum of about £1.99 per month. ~~This makes it so that users are not paying~~ to ~~access content like other~~ subscription ~~services; rather~~, ~~they~~ are ~~paying for privacy protection while viewing freely available~~ content.

When viewing a website, consumers are greeted with a pop-up display on the use of cookies. Instead of the usual Accept or Reject options, users are now greeted with Accept or Pay, often with a small sum of about £1.99 per month. While this appears similar to a subscription model, many of the companies who implement consent-or-pay are considered free. The practice effectively paywalls the website's content, and viewers must now pay either with their personal data or with a monetary fee.

==Why it is a problem==

==~~Examples~~==

==Meta investigation and fine==

In 2024, Meta has been accused of employing sly workarounds for GDPR, including an earlier version of consent-or-pay. They have since changed the messaging and how its displayed; however, UK visitors to Facebook and Instagram must still choose between consenting to data collection or paying the monthly fee in order to access those platforms.

In June of 2025, the European Commission stated that Meta's continued practice of consent-or-pay may accrue daily fines.

== Other uses ==

=== News organizations ===

News organization websites appear to be the most common practitioner of the consent-or-pay model, effectively paywalling their free content by collecting data or money. These organizations include:

* The Mirror

* The Independent

==Response==

===Criticisms from policymakers===

Example Text

*Meta

===Consumer response===

*UK news sites (The Mirror, The Independent, et al.)

Example Text

==References==

[[Category:Common terms]]