Silktide

Silktide finds checkboxes on your pages that are already checked before the visitor touches them. If such a checkbox asks for consent, for example to receive marketing emails, that consent is not valid under privacy law.

<!-- Invalid: consent must not be pre-checked -->
<input type="checkbox" name="newsletter" checked>
<label>Send me marketing emails</label>

<!-- Valid: the visitor actively opts in -->
<input type="checkbox" name="newsletter">
<label>Send me marketing emails</label>

Why this matters

Under the , consent must be a clear, affirmative action: the person has to actively opt in. The Court of Justice of the EU ruled (in the Planet49 case, 2019) that a pre-checked box does not constitute valid consent, because doing nothing is not agreeing. Consent gathered this way is worthless - marketing sent on the back of it is unlawful, and regulators can fine you for it.

Pre-checked boxes are also a dark pattern that erodes trust: people notice when they are signed up for something they never chose.

How to fix it

Silktide flags every pre-checked checkbox because it cannot reliably tell which ones ask for consent - that part is your review.

For each flagged checkbox, decide whether it relates to consent: marketing opt-ins, accepting data processing, agreeing to cookies or profiling.
For consent checkboxes, remove the checked attribute (or the setting in your form builder that pre-checks it) so the visitor must actively opt in.
If the checkbox is not about consent - a search filter, a "remember me" option, a default preference - it may be fine. Ignore the finding so it isn't raised again.

How Silktide tests this

Find every checkbox on each page.
Report each one that is already checked when the page loads, with its surrounding text so you can judge what it asks.

Silktide does not attempt to decide whether a checkbox is consent-related; every pre-checked checkbox is reported for your review.

Troubleshooting

A harmless checkbox is flagged

Expected. Filters, display preferences, and similar controls legitimately default to checked. The check exists to surface the ones that shouldn't, and non-consent checkboxes can simply be ignored.

A checkbox becomes checked after the page loads

Silktide examines the page as it loads. A checkbox that scripts check later, for example after the visitor makes another choice, may not be detected.