Ethics Consent Review

Consent is not a checkbox. It is a meaningful act by a person who understands what they're agreeing to, genuinely has the option to decline, and isn't being manipulated into compliance.

Most consent failures aren't malicious — they're the accumulated result of copy-paste terms, optimised conversion flows, and defaults set by people who never questioned them. This review surfaces those failures before they become patterns users resent or regulators flag.

The Three Tests

Every consent decision must pass three tests:

Informed — Does the person genuinely understand what they're agreeing to? Not technically (buried in ToS), but practically. If you explained it plainly in conversation, would they be surprised?

Voluntary — Does the person genuinely have the ability to decline? Is declining as easy as accepting? Are there consequences for declining that make the choice effectively coerced?

Meaningful — Does the person's choice actually matter? Is there genuine optionality, or is the "choice" cosmetic — the default is set to the outcome the business wants and the friction to change it is high?