Who said yes, and when?
A gym gets a complaint. "I never agreed to texts." The manager opens the sign-up system. There is no date, no wording and no record of how the person agreed. The gym cannot prove anything.
Consent is not a tick on the day. It has a life: it is recorded, it can be withdrawn and it can go out of date.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Personal data | Information about a living person who can be identified. | |
| Consent | A person's clear agreement to let you use their data for a stated reason. | |
| Scope | What exactly the person agreed to. | email offers only |
| Withdrawal | The person takes their consent back. | |
| Renewal | Asking the person to agree again so the record stays fresh. | |
| Consent lifecycle | The whole story of a consent: given, recorded, used, withdrawn or renewed. | |
| Database | An organised store of data in tables. | |
| Query | A question you ask a database. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can record consent properly and manage its life: who, when, scope, how it was given, withdrawal and renewal.
Starter: the five tests
Have a go
Starter: the five tests
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
What to record
To prove consent, keep a record. Write down who gave it, when they gave it and the scope: exactly what they agreed to. Also record how they said yes, such as a ticked box or a signed form.
Keep the words they saw. If the form changes, you can still show what they agreed to.
A consent record
| Field | Why it is kept | Example |
|---|---|---|
| person | Who gave consent | Sam |
| scope | What they agreed to | email offers |
| how_given | The act that showed agreement | ticked box on web form |
| given_on | When they agreed | 2026-03-02 |
| withdrawn_on | When they took it back (empty if not) | empty |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Try it: who can we email today?
SELECT person, given_on FROM consents
WHERE scope = 'email offers' AND withdrawn_on IS NULL
ORDER BY person;Check: the record
Have a go
Check: the record
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.