How to handle expired or outdated consent data?

Consent can become outdated when consent language changes significantly, legal requirements evolve, or time-based validity periods expire. When your consent practices change. You ustart sharing data with new partners, add new communication types, or significantly increase sending frequency-existing consent may no longer cover your current activities. Similarly, when regulations like GDPR took effect, many organizations found their pre-existing consent didn't meet the new standards. In these situations, you may need to re-consent subscribers or stop processing based on the outdated permission.

For time-based expiration, some jurisdictions or organizational policies require periodic consent refresh. CASL's implied consent has explicit time limits (two years from last transaction), after which you need express consent to continue. Some organizations implement proactive re-consent campaigns for subscribers who haven't engaged in extended periods, treating extended inactivity as a signal that consent may have become stale even if not technically expired. These campaigns ask subscribers to reaffirm their interest before continuing to receive emails.

When handling outdated consent, you have several options: re-consent campaigns (actively requesting subscribers confirm they want to continue), grandfathering with enhanced documentation (continuing to send while documenting that consent predates current requirements and represents ongoing relationship), or sunsetting (stopping sends to subscribers whose consent doesn't meet current standards). The right approach depends on your risk tolerance, the nature of the consent gap, and applicable regulations. Whatever you choose, document your reasoning and the criteria used. Outdated consent isn't automatically invalid, but it's a warning sign that the permission foundation may need strengthening.