Compare · Consent only tools
TrustOS or a consent only tool for the DPDP Act
Consent tools, often sold as cookie banners or consent management platforms, do one job: show a notice and record a choice on a website or app. That job matters. The DPDP Act also asks for work that happens after the choice is recorded, and in places a banner never sees.
A fair reading
When consent only tools is enough, and when teams outgrow it
Enough for now
- Your website is the main channelIf most personal data comes through a website or app sign up, and you mainly need to record marketing and analytics choices, a consent tool covers a real part of the duty.
- You need it live quicklyA banner can go live in days. For a D2C brand launching a new storefront, that may be the right first step.
- Another team runs the restIf requests, erasure and breach response are already handled well elsewhere, a consent tool may be all you are missing.
Where teams outgrow it
- Choices stop at the bannerThe tool records that a shopper said no to marketing. The email platform, the WhatsApp sender and the ad audiences still have to hear about it, and someone has to show they did.
- Offline channels are not coveredConsent given at a branch, on a printed hospital admission form or in a call centre does not pass through a website banner.
- Consent is one duty of severalRights requests, grievances, erasure, retention, breach intimation, processors and legitimate uses sit outside what a consent tool is built to do.
- No map behind itA consent tool knows the purposes you typed into it. It does not know which systems hold the data for each purpose, which is what withdrawal and erasure depend on.
Side by side
Consent only tools and TrustOS, topic by topic
| Topic | Consent only tools | TrustOS |
|---|---|---|
| Notice and consent on the website | Yes, usually its core strength. | Yes, through the Privacy Centre or your own screens, linked to purposes in the inventory. |
| Consent from branches, forms and calls | Usually not. | Recorded with the channel, so a withdrawal applies wherever consent was given. |
| Withdrawal reaching other systems | Depends on integrations you build. | Work created per system and processor, with each confirmation kept. |
| Rights requests and grievances | Rarely, or as a simple form. | One queue with owners, due dates and status for the person. |
| Erasure and retention | Not covered. | Retention rules per purpose and erasure across systems, with reasons for anything kept. |
| Breach, processors and evidence | Not covered. | Covered by their own modules, on the same record. |
Our view
Choosing between the two
A consent tool is a good tool for a narrow job. If your risk is mostly website choices, it may be enough for now. If you need withdrawal to reach other systems, consent from offline channels, or requests, erasure and breach response on one record, you need more than a banner. Some teams keep their consent tool for the website and send its records to TrustOS, so nothing has to be thrown away.
Questions
Asked by teams weighing this up
Can we keep our current consent tool?
Often, yes. Consents recorded elsewhere can be sent to TrustOS through its interface, so withdrawals are acted on and evidence is kept in one place. We check the details in scoping.
Is a cookie banner enough under the DPDP Act?
It can be one way to give notice and collect consent on a website. It is not enough on its own if the choices it records do not reach the systems that use the data.
Are Consent Managers the same as consent tools?
No. A Consent Manager is a company registered with the Data Protection Board under the Rules, acting for Data Principals. Most consent tools are software a Data Fiduciary runs for itself.
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See all ten modules
What TrustOS covers, module by module, on one record of data, systems and owners.
Learn moreSee it with your data
Show us where your personal data lives. We will show you TrustOS running on it.
A 30 minute walkthrough on Google Meet with someone who knows the Act and the product. You leave with a view of your first phase, the owners and the effort.
Or get a rollout proposal in two minutes- Step 1A 30 minute demo on Google MeetWith someone who knows the Act and the product.
- Step 2Your systems and purposesWe walk one product's personal data through TrustOS.
- Step 3A first phase you can planModules, owners and effort, written down for you to keep.