Preference Types

A preference type is a kind of choice a person can state about how they are contacted. It names what a choice is about; the choice itself, and the person who made it, are records. A stated choice is not a lawful ground, and honouring one is not the same as being permitted.

What you can do with a preference type

• tablePermission Plan · Preferences

Its preference types— 4

• Channel Opt OutA statement that a person does not want to be reached through a given channel at all.
• Content Opt OutA statement that a person does not want a given kind of content, whichever channel carries it.
• Frequency PreferenceA statement of how often a person is willing to be contacted.
• Format PreferenceA statement of the form a person wants what they receive to take.

Why it matters

What goes wrong without it, as the commitments that license this kind say it, each standing on its sources.

• Keep audience eligibility, preference and permission basis distinctThese answer three different questions — can this person be reached, how do they want to be reached, and are we permitted to reach them — and collapsing them is how an organisation comes to treat membership of a segment as a consent. Eligibility is an addressing fact, preference is a stated choice, and a permission basis is a condition with a purpose and a jurisdiction. Only the last has anything to say about whether an activation is allowed.
  Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 6 · Audience Taxonomy · Global Privacy Protocol · Data Privacy Vocabulary · Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 7: Conditions for consent · Consent Receipt Specification 1.1 · Transparency and Consent Framework v2.2 · RFC 8058: Signaling One-Click Functionality for List Email Headers