Consent Mode v2 and GPC: How They Fit Together

If your site runs Google tags behind a consent banner, you probably set up Consent Mode v2 and moved on. It's fair to wonder whether that setup also answers a visitor whose browser sends Global Privacy Control. The short answer: they're related, but Consent Mode doesn't read the signal on its own.

What Consent Mode v2 does

According to Google's consent guide, Consent Mode v2 has four parameters: ad_storage, analytics_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization. Each is either granted or denied. You set defaults with gtag('consent', 'default', ...) before any other tag command, can vary them by region, and change them with an update call after the visitor makes a choice. Google also notes that Consent Mode doesn't remember that choice; your site has to store it and reapply it on later pages. That same guide doesn't mention GPC.

Where GPC enters

Google handles opt-out signals through a different mechanism. Its restricted data processing help page says that when Google receives a GPC signal from users in applicable states, it turns off ads targeting and activates restricted data processing. The same page lists the tag-side options: a restricted_data_processing parameter, a Tag Manager field, and a checkbox in the Google Ads remarketing tag configuration. It doesn't mention Consent Mode.

Google's page is also plain about the limit: ads that use third-party ad tracking or serving will still run unless you disable them. Google's commitments cover Google's processing, not the other pixels on your page.

What this means for your site

Under § 7025, a business that sells or shares personal information treats a GPC signal as a valid opt-out request. A banner whose defaults deny ad_storage everywhere may cover California visitors who never click anything, but it's a configuration choice you made, and it says nothing about the Meta, TikTok or HubSpot tags next to it. A banner that defaults to granted in the US leaves a GPC visitor depending on whatever else you wired up.

The practical check is empirical. Load your page in a clean browser profile with GPC on, watch the network panel, and note which advertising requests go out before any interaction. Our guides on honoring the signal and why GPC seems not to work walk through it.

Where Privisy fits

Privisy loads your site with the GPC signal on and records which advertising and analytics requests still fire. It reports what the browser sends, so it works as a second opinion alongside your consent tool, not a replacement for it. The free GPC check tests your homepage this way.