---
slug: consent-vor-einwilligung
title: "What happens before consent?"
category: consent
locale: en
updated: 2026-10-19
keywords: ["block_all","anonymous","before consent","reach measurement","fallback","without consent"]
questions: ["Can I measure anonymously before consent?","Anonymous measurement without consent","Cookieless tracking","What is block_all?","Is tracking without consent possible?","What is measured without consent?","Are cookies set before the banner?","What is stored in the browser before consent?","Do you use localStorage without consent?","Does the script read the URL before consent?","Is the first page view counted before the banner?","Does Metrunio buffer events until consent?","Is a purchase lost before consent?","Does Metrunio catch up on reports from before the banner?","Does the embed code hold calls until the script has loaded?","Do I need to copy the embed code again?","What is in metrunioQueue before consent?"]
url: https://metrunio.com/en/help/consent-vor-einwilligung
---

# What happens before consent?

**Can I measure anonymously before consent?**

The default is “block_all”: before consent the tracking script records and sends nothing and keeps nothing back, reports from your page included, and neither does the embed code while the script loads; the page view is only created on consent. Before that it only reads its own consent state and, for the check link, the page address. There is no reach measurement without consent: since 18 October 2026 Metrunio counts nothing before the decision, even where the former setting is still stored.

| Setting | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| block_all (default) | Nothing is stored. |
| analytics_only_after_consent | Analytics only after consent, marketing still blocked. |
| anonymous_analytics_pending_review | Former reach measurement before consent. Since 18 October 2026 it acts like block_all. |

Two documented cases differ from the default, without the tracking script sending anything before a decision: orders your server reports without consent, and the click ID the click redirect appends to the destination URL. Both are described in the article “What happens without consent?”.

## What became of reach measurement

Until 29 September 2026 a third setting could be chosen: count page views without consent, without an identifier and without a journey. From then on it was hidden. Since 18 October 2026 it has no effect at all, including on websites that still carry it. A page view without a decision is rejected there just as under block_all.

- We deleted what had been counted up to then on 18 October 2026. That is why the “Reach” page no longer exists for your account.
- If your website is still on the old setting, the portal tells you so under Setup, in the consent section. The next time you save, you choose one of the two settings. Until then it behaves like block_all.
- Purchases, leads, carts and form submissions from the browser were not stored without consent before either.

## What the script does in the browser before consent

Almost nothing, and on purpose. Section 25 TDDDG is not about what sits on our servers but about what is written to, or read from, your visitors’ devices, whether or not it identifies anyone. The page’s working memory is part of the device too. Since 18 October 2026 the SDK therefore builds no events and no session before a decision and keeps nothing back for them, neither in browser storage nor in working memory. Since 19 October 2026 the same holds for the embed code while the script is still loading (see below). For measurement it reads neither the page address nor the referrer, the page title or a click ID. All it notes is that a page view is due, without any content.

On consent, the page view is created from the page that is open at that moment, with its address and referrer. Whatever your page reports itself before that, for example with `track`, `identify` or the order on the thank-you page, the SDK drops straight away and does not catch up on it after consent either. After a refusal nothing is created.

The same applies to the embed code while the script is still loading. It remembers the decision your page or the consent bridge reports to it and only keeps a call if that decision covers it: page view, `track`, `identify`, `conversion` and `goal` with analytics or marketing, the post-purchase question and `fillForm` with analytics, advertising events with marketing. Otherwise it drops the call straight away with all its details, even if the script loads slowly or not at all. Of the page view it keeps nothing before the decision except that one is due. A withdrawal also drops what it already holds.

> **Caution:** If you copied the embed code before 19 October 2026, it holds your page’s calls until the script has loaded, even without consent. Copy it again from the portal under “Setup”. With a plugin, the new embed code comes with an update of the plugin. With Google Tag Manager, only queue measurement calls after the decision; see the article on the tag manager.

> **Caution:** Report the decision before the purchase. If your consent tool only passes on the stored decision after `metrunio.conversion`, the purchase is lost in the browser. Load the consent bridge before the call, call `metrunio.setConsent` first, or report the purchase only in the `metrunio:consent` event that the SDK fires on `window` with every decision. Orders your shop server reports arrive regardless.

Before the decision the SDK reads two things. In browser storage exactly one entry, and it belongs to consent management: metrunio_consent_pending. It only exists if an earlier decision in this browser has not reached the server yet, such as a withdrawal just before the tab was closed. The SDK then delivers it. And, for the check link, the page address, see below.

- The first page view is timed at consent, not at page load.
- If a single-page app changes pages before the decision, that change is not counted on its own. On consent, the page that is open then counts.
- A check link from the portal (metrunio-debug) opens the check panel. For that to work, the SDK reads the page address on every load and, if there is none there, the referrer, and checks whether either carries such a link for the same website. Without a check link it keeps nothing of this and sends nothing.
- Only with the check panel open does it also list which reports from your page were dropped before the decision, with their type and without content. Without a check link the SDK does not even count them.
- Forms with data-metrunio-lead stay empty before consent. The setting “Source without consent as well” no longer exists since 18 October 2026.

This holds for every setting. Our tests check that before the decision the SDK sends nothing, touches no entry other than metrunio_consent_pending, in both browser stores, and does not keep an order reported earlier even in working memory. For the embed code they check the contents of the queue before the script loads: without consent no order number, no customer ID and no details of any call.

## Also asked

- Anonymous measurement without consent
- Cookieless tracking
- What is block_all?
- Is tracking without consent possible?
- What is measured without consent?
- Are cookies set before the banner?
- What is stored in the browser before consent?
- Do you use localStorage without consent?
- Does the script read the URL before consent?
- Is the first page view counted before the banner?
- Does Metrunio buffer events until consent?
- Is a purchase lost before consent?
- Does Metrunio catch up on reports from before the banner?
- Does the embed code hold calls until the script has loaded?
- Do I need to copy the embed code again?
- What is in metrunioQueue before consent?

## Related

- https://metrunio.com/en/help/consent-grundsatz
- https://metrunio.com/en/help/consent-widerruf
- https://metrunio.com/en/help/rechtsgrundlage
- https://metrunio.com/en/help/quellen-erkennen
- https://metrunio.com/en/help/sdk-api
- https://metrunio.com/en/help/gtm-verbinden