---
slug: consent-vor-einwilligung
title: "What happens before consent?"
category: consent
locale: en
updated: 2026-10-15
keywords: ["block_all","anonymous","before consent","reach measurement","fallback","without consent"]
questions: ["Can I measure anonymously before consent?","Anonymous measurement without consent","Cookieless tracking","What is block_all?","Is tracking without consent possible?","What is measured without consent?","Are cookies set before the banner?","What is stored in the browser before consent?","Do you use localStorage without consent?"]
url: https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/consent-vor-einwilligung
---

# What happens before consent?

**Can I measure anonymously before consent?**

The default is “block_all”: nothing is stored before consent, and the tracking script sends nothing. Anonymous reach measurement before consent has been hidden since 29 September 2026 and can no longer be selected: the script sends nothing before a decision anyway, so it would stay empty. If you had already enabled it, earlier figures remain visible under “Reach”.

| Setting | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| block_all (default) | Nothing is stored. |
| analytics_only_after_consent | Analytics only after consent, marketing still blocked. |
| anonymous_analytics_pending_review | Anonymous reach measurement before consent, hidden since 29 September 2026. |

> **Note:** Why it is hidden: before a decision, the tracking script sends nothing at all, page views included. Reach measurement only ever received figures through two paths on which the script broke that rule: at checkout and when the page was left. Both have been closed since 29 September 2026. We do not offer a setting that would then measure nothing. Sites that have it keep it until you change it; the description below applies to what was counted until then.

Two documented cases differ from the default, without the tracking script sending anything before a decision: orders your server reports without consent, and the click ID the click redirect appends to the destination URL. Both are described in the article “What happens without consent?”.

## What reach measurement stores and what it does not

The fallback is a count, not a record. What is stored is when a view arrived, which page was read, and which channel and source it came from. Anything that would let two views be connected to one person is discarded before storage.

| Counted | Not stored |
| --- | --- |
| Page view and session start | Pseudonymous id, session id, customer id |
| Channel and source (organic search, Google) | Click and impression identifiers |
| Day and website | IP address, not even as a hash |
| Page path | Query string, free-form fields, cart lines |

- Purchases, leads, carts and form submissions are not stored without consent, not even anonymously.
- The counted views produce no journeys, no conversions and no revenue.
- The numbers appear in the portal under “Reach”, an area of their own, expressly separate from attribution. The attribution page shows only the total and a link to it.
- Once consent is in place the fallback no longer applies; after a refusal it does not either.

## What sits in the browser before consent

Nothing. This is a separate question: section 25 TDDDG is not about what sits on our servers but about what is written to, or read from, your visitors’ devices, whether or not it identifies anyone. Before a decision the SDK writes neither the pseudonymous id nor the session id nor the queue, and it reads nothing either. The held-back events do carry a session id, but it lives in memory and only moves onto the device once consent is given. After a refusal it is discarded.

This holds for all three settings. Reach measurement does not touch the device either: it counts what the browser sends of its own accord and stores nothing there. Before the decision the SDK does not write a session id either; our tests check this in both browser stores.

> **Note:** A subject access request under Article 15 cannot return these rows, and a deletion cannot find them: nothing is stored that would tie them to a person. That is the purpose of the setting and at the same time its limit.

> **Legal note:** The third setting carries “pending review” in its name for a reason: it must be reviewed by privacy counsel before it is used. Whether section 25 TDDDG applies depends on the individual case; Metrunio does not make that decision for you.

## Also asked

- Anonymous measurement without consent
- Cookieless tracking
- What is block_all?
- Is tracking without consent possible?
- What is measured without consent?
- Are cookies set before the banner?
- What is stored in the browser before consent?
- Do you use localStorage without consent?

## Related

- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/consent-grundsatz
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/consent-widerruf
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/rechtsgrundlage
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/quellen-erkennen