Personal data use is increasingly permeating our everyday life. Informed consent for personal data use is a central instrument for ensuring the protection of personal data. However, current informed consent practices often fail to actually inform data subjects about the use of personal data. This article presents the results of a requirements analysis for informed consent from both a legal and usability perspective, considering the application context of educational assessment. The requirements analysis is based on European Union (EU) law and a review of current practices. As the main outcome, the article presents a blueprint which will be the basis for the development of an informed consent template that supports data controllers in establishing an effective and efficient informed consent form. Because the blueprint, and subsequently, the template, distinguishes between legal and usability requirements, it also provides the basis for the mapping of legal requirements in other (non-European) contexts.

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Consent is a fundamental concept in privacy and personal data protection legislation. Typically, personal information can only be processed based on (informed) consent by the individual concerned. However, in our information society, such consent may not always be effective, as several real-life cases have shown. In this chapter, we explore the discussion on the role of consent in privacy and personal data protection. We show how legal, ethical, economic and technological studies point to similar core issues, notably related to limitations of communication and decision making, inhibiting the effectiveness of consent for privacy protection. At the same time, alternatives to consent are not readily available or are difficult to implement. Knowledge of such discussions is essential for those involved in future developments related to consent and privacy as they point to more fundamental issues of the consent concept.@en