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Consent & legal: provable opt-ins, cookie banner, legal texts, checkout rules

HyperLevel keeps a consent ledger per contact, channel and purpose, can ask for a double opt-in, checks the ledger before every advertising message (send gate), shows a preference centre, runs its own cookie banner (CMP, no third party), generates drafts of the legal pages (Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung, Widerrufsbelehrung, AVV, VVT) and adds the German checkout rules to buy pages.

No legal advice. Everything in this area – texts, defaults, the way the status is derived – is a template for German and EU law (DSGVO Art. 6/7/13/28/30, UWG § 7, TDDDG § 25, BGB §§ 312j/312k/356, DDG § 5). It was written carefully, but it is not checked by a lawyer and cannot know your business. Have your Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung, AVV, consent texts and checkout texts reviewed by a lawyer or your data-protection officer before relying on them. The UI says the same on every page of this area.

Where to find it

Section titled “Where to find it”
What Where
Rules, double opt-in, overview, events, text versions Einstellungen → Einwilligung & Recht → Einwilligung
Cookie banner editor with live preview and log … → Cookie-Banner
Company data, services, document wizard … → Rechtstexte
Buy page rules and stored acceptances … → Checkout
Proof of one person a contact → Einwilligung
Opt-in of a form a form → Einstellungen → Einwilligung für Werbung
“Service-Nachricht (keine Werbung)” a workflow step E-Mail senden / SMS senden

The Akademie has a tour for it (Einwilligung & Recht).

Section titled “The consent ledger”

Every statement is an event that is only ever added, never changed. The status is derived from the events.

Channels: email, sms, whatsapp, phone, tracking (the cookie banner writes here once a visitor becomes a contact).

Purposes: newsletter, marketing, webinar, community, transactional, statistics, external_media. The purpose * means “all purposes of this channel” (used by unsubscribe and legacy rows).

Actions: granted, confirmed (double opt-in clicked), revoked, declined, expired (a confirmation request ran out), reset, legacy.

Fields of an event: source (form, funnel, webinar, community, import, api, manual, unsubscribe, preferences, doi, checkout, cmp, system) with a label, time, IP network (only /24 for IPv4 and /48 for IPv6, never the full address), user-agent hash (first 16 hex digits of a SHA-256), the consent text as a version (consent_texts: the same wording is the same version, a changed wording is a new one – old events keep pointing at the old text), a proof link (the page where the box was ticked), a note and who recorded it.

Status per channel and purpose:

Status Meaning
confirmed Consent given and, where double opt-in was asked, confirmed
pending Consent given, confirmation still outstanding (the link is valid)
revoked Withdrawn (or Nicht stören)
unknown Nothing recorded. Altbestand (legacy) = no history of its own: e. g. contacts that existed before this feature or came in by an import without proof. A confirmation request that expired is unknown too, but not legacy

For a channel the best status of the relevant purposes counts: confirmed before pending before revoked before unknown. A later event beats an earlier one of the same purpose. DND keeps working: Nicht stören counts as revoked for every channel, and a new confirmed from the person themselves (form, confirmation link, preference centre) lifts DND again; a team member’s entry never does.

Double opt-in

Section titled “Double opt-in”

Settings: Einwilligung & Recht → Einwilligung → Double-Opt-in, per sub-account and overridable per form.

  • Sources that ask for confirmation: forms, funnels and websites, webinar registration, community sign-up, imports and the API. Defaults: forms and funnels on, the rest off.
  • The mail has a subject and text you can change. Placeholders: {{contact.first_name}}, {{location.name}}, {{confirm_url}}, {{purpose_text}}, {{expires}}, {{consent_text}}. {{confirm_url}} has to be in the text.
  • Nothing is measured before the consent (§ 25 TDDDG, GDPR): the confirmation mail and its reminder carry no tracking pixel and no tracked links, whatever the tracking settings say, and no “Abmelden” footer – it is a service mail, there is nothing to unsubscribe from yet (the footer names the company only).
  • The link is signed (HMAC with the server secret), carries its expiry and opens a page with a button – only the button (a POST) confirms, so mail scanners that open links confirm nothing. Texts, button and the redirect after confirming are editable; the page is noindex, no-store, sends no referrer.
  • Reminder after X hours (default 48, 0 = none), expiry after Y hours (default 168). An expired request creates an expired event; the person then needs to sign up again. Revoking cancels open requests.
  • Triggers and timeline: workflow triggers consent.confirmed (filter by channel and purpose; fires immediately without double opt-in, otherwise after the click) and consent.revoked; every step appears on the contact’s timeline.
  • A first mail is tried up to four times; a mail that cannot be sent never counts as consent.

The send gate

Section titled “The send gate”

Einstellungen → Einwilligung & Recht → Einwilligung → Versandregel für Werbung:

Rule Who gets advertising
Bestätigte Kontakte und Altbestand ohne Nachweis (default, nothing changes for existing lists) confirmed and legacy unknown. Not: pending, revoked, expired requests, DND
Nur Kontakte mit bestätigter Einwilligung (recommended) only confirmed

What is gated: campaigns (e-mail and SMS), workflow steps E-Mail senden / SMS senden, WhatsApp marketing templates, advertising sequences, and surveys and review requests – German courts count asking for feedback as advertising (BGH VI ZR 225/17): the NPS survey, the satisfaction survey (CSAT) after a ticket (also when it is sent again by hand) and review requests (by hand, from the workflow step Bewertung anfragen and from the API). For e-mail the purposes newsletter and marketing count, for SMS, WhatsApp and phone marketing. The workflow step DND je Kanal stops e-mail, SMS and WhatsApp on its own channel.

What is not gated: service messages – a workflow step with Service-Nachricht (keine Werbung) ticked, invoices, appointment mails, the double opt-in mail, replies in a conversation, messages a person writes by hand. They are marked exempt / conversation, so you can see what the system treated as advertising. A test mail to a team member is marked override.

Every message carries purpose (marketing, transactional, conversation) and consent_basis (confirmed, legacy, exempt, override, blocked). A blocked send is stored as skipped with the German reason, in campaigns per recipient, and the campaign page shows how many were skipped for missing consent.

The inquiry acknowledgment of the workflow recipe Neuer Lead is a service message; its follow-up is advertising and gated.

Section titled “Where consent comes in”
Source How
Forms and funnel forms Form → Einstellungen → Einwilligung für Werbung: switch on, pick the consent field (type Einwilligung), purposes, extra channels (SMS/WhatsApp), double opt-in inherit / on / off. Only a ticked consent field counts, its label is stored as the text. The plain “I agree to the processing” box is not an opt-in for advertising. A form on a funnel page is recorded as source Funnel with the page as proof link
Webinar registration the consent box (and the SMS reminder box) of the registration page
Community sign-up the consent box of the join page
CSV import choose Altbestand ohne Nachweis (default; one legacy event with your source note), Einwilligung liegt anderweitig vor (events with the note you give) or Double-Opt-in anfragen (everybody gets the confirmation mail). Fields: consent (legacy, confirmed, doi), consent_note, source_label
API POST /api/contacts with consent: true or { channels, purposes, doi, text, proof_url, note }
By hand the contact’s Einwilligung tab: Einwilligung erfassen (needs the source note, e. g. “am Telefon am 12.03.”) or Widerruf erfassen
Unsubscribe link and preference centre a revoke event

Proof, export and the preference centre

Section titled “Proof, export and the preference centre”
  • Proof per contact (contact → Einwilligung): status per channel and purpose, all events with source, time, text version (the wording is shown), IP network, proof link, open requests. Export as PDF or CSV (CSV with BOM for Excel). The same proof is part of the DSGVO-Auskunft (privacy export).
  • Preference centre /consent/p/<contact>/<token> (signed link): the person switches channels and purposes on and off; every change is an event with source Einstellungsseite. Advertising mails link it in the footer next to Abmelden (switch off under Einwilligung → Werbe-Mails verlinken die Einstellungsseite); the placeholder %%preferences_url%% puts the link anywhere in a mail. Preference-centre links are not routed through click tracking.
  • The unsubscribe page offers the preference centre after unsubscribing.
Section titled “Cookie banner (CMP)”

Einstellungen → Einwilligung & Recht → Cookie-Banner. Our own consent manager for funnels and websites, booking pages, forms, buy pages, community pages and customer portals. Switched off by default.

  • Categories: Notwendig (always on), Statistik, Marketing, Externe Medien – off until the visitor decides. Reject is as easy as accept (same look, one click), and the banner works without JavaScript.
  • Script blocking: add type="text/plain" and data-category="statistics|marketing|external_media" to a script – it only runs after consent. Embeds (<iframe data-category="external_media" data-src="…">) show a placeholder with a button until allowed. YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps and common trackers are recognised; unknown third-party scripts are blocked until Marketing is allowed (switchable). Scripts you write into the head code or HTML blocks are handled; HyperLevel’s own visitor statistics (the pghl_vid cookie) follow Statistik or Marketing.
  • Google Consent Mode v2: ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, analytics_storage start as denied and are updated after the choice (inserted right after <meta charset>).
  • Choice and proof: cookie pghl_cmp=v<version>.<bits>.<id> (180 days by default, 1–395), plus the compatibility cookie pghl_consent. Every decision is logged pseudonymously (version, choice, page, IP network, browser hash) and kept 3 years; when the visitor later becomes a contact the choice goes into the ledger on the channel Tracking. A Sec-GPC signal is respected until the visitor decides.
  • Re-open and withdraw: a small button (switch off if you like) and any <a href="#cookie-settings"> link open the banner again. A changed wording or category creates a new version and everybody is asked again (or press Alle neu fragen).
  • Texts, colours, layout (card left/middle/right, bar, centred dialog) are editable with a live preview. Links to your Datenschutzerklärung and Impressum are shown in the banner.
  • One banner only: it replaces the older information line of the visitor statistics.

Not covered: the banner is added to pages HyperLevel serves. Forms or booking pages embedded in another website (iframe) get no banner of their own – the host page needs its own. Webinar-room videos from YouTube/Vimeo are not controlled by the banner.

Legal text generators

Section titled “Legal text generators”

Einstellungen → Einwilligung & Recht → Rechtstexte. Pure templates, no external call:

  • Company data (prefilled from the sub-account) → Rechtsform, Firma, Vertretung, Anschrift, Kontakt, Register, USt-ID, Verantwortliche/r (§ 18 MStV), Datenschutz, Streitbeilegung. What is missing shows in the text as [bitte ergänzen: …] and in the list “Noch zu ergänzen” – nothing is invented.
  • Documents: Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung (module-aware: it only names what you use – forms, funnels, webinars, community, calendars, e-mail tracking and the banner, Stripe, WhatsApp/Meta, tickets, affiliates, Google reviews, mailboxes, HR; plus trackers and embeds it finds in your page code. Wrong detection? Override per service), Widerrufsbelehrung (digital / service / goods, with the model form), AVV (Art. 28 DSGVO draft with TOMs and sub-processors, for customers whose data you process) and VVT (Art. 30 draft).
  • Output: preview, PDF, HTML, Markdown, plain text, copy to the clipboard. Every export carries the “keine Rechtsberatung – bitte prüfen” notice.
  • Hosted copy: /legal/<sub-account>/impressum|datenschutz|widerruf – used by forms, buy pages and the checkout; not published before company name and a way to reach you are set.
  • Websites: a new website from the template gets prefilled Impressum and Datenschutz pages instead of “Hier einfügen”; for existing ones In eine Website übernehmen creates or replaces the pages (only where the placeholder text still stands, unless you overwrite) and links them in the footer together with Cookie-Einstellungen.
  • eRecht24 (optional, placeholder): enable it and enter project and API key; nothing is called unless a module registers a provider (app.services.legalTexts.providers). By default HyperLevel’s own templates are used. The key is stored encrypted and never shown again.
  • For other modules (the hosted service’s sign-up, for instance): app.services.legalTexts – profile(locationId), facts(locationId), generate(locationId, kind, opts), render(doc, format), hostedUrl(locationId, kind), prefill(...), kinds, notice.

Checkout rules (Germany)

Section titled “Checkout rules (Germany)”

Einstellungen → Einwilligung & Recht → Checkout. Applies to buy pages (/buy/<key>) and what they open:

  • Button: “zahlungspflichtig bestellen” (§ 312j Abs. 3 BGB) – replaces “Jetzt kaufen” / “Jetzt abonnieren”. You can reword it, but it has to say zahlungspflichtig/kostenpflichtig plus an order verb, otherwise the setting is refused.
  • AGB: with an AGB address set, a required checkbox; the version of the text and the time are stored with the order.
  • Widerruf: link to your Widerrufsbelehrung (the hosted one by default). For digital content and services a second required checkbox asks for the start before the end of the withdrawal period (§ 356 Abs. 4/5 BGB); the exact wording, its version, time and IP network are stored with the order (Gespeicherte Zustimmungen). Type per product or as default: none, digital, service, goods.
  • VAT note under the button: § 19 UStG for small businesses (from the invoice settings) or “inklusive gesetzlicher Umsatzsteuer”; “Keine Versandkosten” for digital offers.
  • After the purchase a confirmation mail repeats AGB and waiver (durable medium) and adds a note to the contact’s timeline. Switch off if your invoice mail does that.

Switch the whole thing off with Regeln auf Kaufseiten anwenden; without the AGB address no AGB box appears.

API and MCP

Section titled “API and MCP”
Route Purpose
GET/PUT /api/consent/settings policy, double opt-in settings
GET /api/consent/overview, /log, /texts; POST /api/consent/texts numbers, events, text versions
GET/POST /api/contacts/:id/consent status and events; `{action: granted
GET /api/contacts/:id/consent/proof full proof (JSON)
POST /api/contacts/:id/consent/doi send / resend the confirmation request
GET /api/contacts/:id/consent/export.csv, export.pdf proof export
GET/PUT /api/cmp/settings, POST /api/cmp/reask, POST /api/cmp/preview, GET /api/cmp/log cookie banner
GET/PUT /api/legal/profile, GET /api/legal/services, POST /api/legal/generate, GET /api/legal/export?kind=&format=, POST /api/legal/funnels/:id/apply legal texts
GET/PUT /api/checkout-law/settings, GET /api/checkout-law/acceptances checkout rules
public: /consent/confirm/<token>, /consent/p/<contact>/<token>, /legal/<sub-account>/<kind> confirmation page, preference centre, hosted legal pages

All of them belong to the permission area Einstellungen and work inside the sub-account only. MCP tool: ghl_contact_consent (read-only proof of a contact).

Data protection of the proof itself

Section titled “Data protection of the proof itself”
  • Minimised on purpose: IP network instead of the address, a hash of the user agent, the text as a version.
  • Erasure of a contact deletes its ledger and open requests (the generic contact erase). Acceptances at checkout stay as accounting evidence but lose e-mail, IP network and browser hash. The cookie log is pseudonymous and deleted after 3 years.
  • The privacy export contains the raw rows and a readable summary (“Einwilligungsnachweis”).
  • A proof link is stored only as a plain http(s) address or path and shown as a link; form and funnel captures store the page without query string or fragment.
Section titled “Open legal points”

Decide these with your lawyer; HyperLevel does not claim to settle them:

  1. Confirmation mails to imported or hand-typed contacts without prior contact can themselves be unsolicited advertising (UWG § 7). Use Double-Opt-in anfragen for imports only where there is a legal basis to ask.
  2. The waiver confirmation on a durable medium relies on the confirmation mail of the checkout; invoices and their archiving belong to the invoice module.
  3. The Kündigungsbutton for contracts concluded online (§ 312k BGB) is not covered.
  4. YouTube/Vimeo in the webinar room and forms/booking pages embedded as iframes in a foreign site are not covered by the banner.
  5. After an erasure the ledger is deleted; keeping a minimal proof for the defence of legal claims is not implemented.
  6. Legacy contacts (policy Altbestand) are your risk: no proof exists. Switch to Nur bestätigt when your lists are clean.
  7. WhatsApp: the marketing/service distinction follows the template category you chose at Meta.
  8. All generated texts are drafts.

For developers

Section titled “For developers”

Modules (each registers itself in server/modules/index.ts, none of them is called from another feature except through hooks):

Module Does
consent.ts ledger tables (consent_texts, consent_events, consent_doi), routes, triggers, MCP tool, DOI tick, privacy export hook
consent-capture.ts app.services.consent.captureForm/captureWebinar/captureCommunity/importBatch/captureApi
consent-pages.ts public confirmation page and preference centre
consent-banner.ts cookie banner: cmp_log, HTML transform, routes, app.services.cmp
legal-pages.ts profile, facts, generators, hosted pages, app.services.legalTexts
checkout-law.ts checkout_acceptances, buy-page boxes, button label, acceptance storage

Logic is in server/services/consent-model.ts (pure: derivation, gate decision, signing, minimisation), consent.ts, consent-proof.ts, cmp.ts (pure), legal-texts.ts (pure), legal-pdf.ts.

Hooks on app.services:

  • consentGate({locationId, contact, channel, purpose, bulk, ignoreDnd, messageId, source}) → {blocked?: string} – called by sendToContact in services/messaging.ts and the WhatsApp sender. Pass purpose: 'transactional' for service messages and purpose: 'marketing' for advertising.
  • consent.* – the capture hooks, statusOf, allowMarketing(Many), grant/revoke/reset; callers use ?. so the module stays optional.
  • cmp – attributionConsent, linkCmp; attribution.ts asks it before it sets a cookie.
  • htmlTransforms (core, app.ts) – a list of (ctx, html) => html applied to public GET pages (the banner uses it; wrap your own code in try/catch – a throw is swallowed and the page goes out unchanged).
  • buyButtonLabel(product, location), buyPageHtml, buyCheckout – checkout rules.
  • legalTexts – see above.

Tests: tests/consent-model.test.ts, consent.test.ts (ledger, double opt-in, gate in campaigns and workflows, proof export), cmp.test.ts (script blocking in the rendered HTML, Consent Mode defaults), legal.test.ts (module-aware generation), checkout-law.test.ts (button text, waiver storage); isolation is covered by the seed in tests/security-fixtures.ts.