August 9, 2025
2 min read
Consent fatigue is observed as a measurable behavioral phenomenon resulting from the overexposure of users to consent requests on digital platforms. Recent studies highlight a significant decrease in meaningful engagement when users are faced with repetitive consent banners, particularly in jurisdictions governed by GDPR and CCPA. The following points summarize the core findings:
Reduced User Attention: Repeated exposure to consent popups leads to rapid habituation. Utz et al. (2019) found that "users are less likely to read or understand privacy notices after repeated exposures," with over 70% of participants admitting to routinely accepting prompts without review.
Diminished Informed Consent: The prevalence of consent fatigue undermines the fundamental principle of informed consent. According to Degeling et al. (2019), "the actual choices made by users rarely reflect their true preferences, but rather a desire to dismiss the prompt as quickly as possible".
Risks to Data Privacy: With users more likely to click ‘Accept’ by default, there is an increased risk of unauthorized data collection and sharing. Nouwens et al. (2020) demonstrated that only 11.8% of users actively managed their privacy settings when presented with complex consent interfaces.
Regulatory Implications: The effectiveness of privacy regulations is called into question. While regulations demand transparency and user choice, the proliferation of consent mechanisms paradoxically leads to user disengagement and apathy, as summarized by Schaub et al. (2017): “Consent mechanisms must balance regulatory compliance with usability, or risk eroding user autonomy”.
In summary, the empirical evidence shows that consent fatigue results in a systematic erosion of informed user choice, undermining the intent of privacy regulation. The findings collectively suggest that current consent mechanisms often fail to achieve their intended purpose, and may require redesign to preserve both regulatory aims and user autonomy.
