What it is
A consent decision is normally stored per browser. If the same person uses a laptop and a phone, each device has its own decision. The Consent Graph links those devices to one person when your site tells Shield who the visitor is, so you can answer "what has this person consented to, across their devices".
How devices get linked
- Your site identifies a visitor, for example after login or a form fill, and calls:
TagPipesShield.setIdentity({ em: "<hashed email>" })Pass values that are already privacy-safe, such as a hashed email or a CRM id. Up to 10 keys per call, values up to 200 characters. The identity is kept for the current page only, so call it again on each page where the visitor is identified. - The visitor makes a consent decision on that page.
- Shield records a link between the person handle (key and value, such as
em:5d41402a...) and the device's Echo visitor id.
A device is linked only when a decision arrives while the visitor is identified. The device id comes from Echo, so Echo must run on the same page. Linking is exact: Shield links only identities your site passes, and does no probabilistic matching or merging across different keys. A link that is not refreshed for 395 days is removed.
Strictest recent decision
Each device's latest decision is that device's own decision. Across all devices linked to the same person, Shield applies the strictest one:
| Part of the decision | Applied to every linked device |
|---|---|
| Granted categories | Only what every linked device has granted |
| Opt-out of personalized advertising | On if any linked device has it on |
Example: a person logs in and accepts everything on their laptop, then logs in and rejects advertising on their phone. Advertising is now denied on both devices. To grant it again, the person changes the decision on the device where they rejected it.
Look up a person or device
- Go to Shield > Consent and click Consent Graph at the top of the page.
- In Look Up A Person Or Device, enter an identity handle in
key:valueform, such asem:5d41402a...orcrm_id:10042, or a bare Echo client id. - Click Look Up.
Identity Handles lists the person handles found. For a client id, those are the handles that device has been linked to.
Linked Devices lists every device linked to those handles:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Echo Client Id | The device |
| Device's Own Decision | Categories this device granted itself, "everything denied", or "no state record (expired, or never decided)" |
| Enforced (Strictest) | Categories actually applied. When it is stricter than the device's own decision, a note says where the stricter decision came from and when it was applied |
| Opt-Out | Whether the opt-out of personalized advertising applies (yes or no) |
| Mode | The device's consent mode |
| Consent Id | The device's consent id |
| Updated | When the device's state last changed |
Limits
- Only visitors your site identifies with
setIdentityappear in the graph. - Only devices running Echo on the same page can be linked.
- Each lookup returns up to 100 devices per handle.
- The graph is read-only. You cannot link, unlink or edit decisions from this page.
TagPipes monitors, configures and reports. It does not determine legal compliance and does not provide legal advice. Output is informational and reflects observed state at the time of observation. Confirm any regulatory interpretation with your counsel.