No easy way to change your mind
Short answer: In practice, yes. The GDPR says withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it (Art. 7(3)). France’s CNIL expects a way to do it on every page, for example a “Manage my cookies” link or an icon. If a visitor can accept in one click but can’t find a way back, their consent isn’t really free to take back.
Does a website need a link to change cookie settings after accepting?
After we accepted cookies, we found no link, button or icon on the page to change or withdraw that choice.
Withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it. Regulators expect a “Cookie settings” link or a consent icon on every page, so people who clicked “Accept” in a hurry can say no later.
Check it yourself in two minutes
Open your site in a private window and click “Accept all”.
Without clearing anything, look for a “Cookie settings” link in the footer or a consent icon in a corner.
Click it: the same choices as the first banner should open, including “Reject all”.
How to fix it
- Add a “Cookie settings” link to the footer of every page that reopens your consent tool.
- Or turn on your consent tool’s floating consent icon.
- Make sure it opens the same choices as the first banner, including “Reject all”.
How untick detects it
After a fresh visitor accepts and the page reloads, we look for a link or button labelled like “Cookie settings” in 10 languages, and for the floating icons of common consent tools (Cookiebot, CookieYes, OneTrust, Usercentrics and others), including inside frames and shadow DOM.
Every finding comes with screenshots, the evidence we collected and a fix for your setup. How a scan works.
Questions people ask
Is a link in the privacy policy enough?
It’s weaker. Regulators expect the way back to be easy to find while browsing, which is why a footer link or a small icon on every page is the usual answer.
Does my consent tool have this built in?
Most do: Cookiebot, CookieYes, OneTrust, Usercentrics, Complianz and others offer a floating icon or a snippet for a “Cookie settings” link. It’s often switched off by default.