Consent content should be:
- Clear and transparent, but not alarming
- Persuasive, but not forceful or pushy
- Reassuring and warm, but not overly familiar or too casual
When to ask for consent
We use consent content when we need customers to agree to something, such as:
Examples
- Before we process a payment
- To make sure they accept Intuit terms and policies
- Before we pass their personal, small business, or tax info to a third party
- Before we use their info for anything other than taxes
In all cases, we want people to know their data is safe and will only be used in ways they agreed to. Consent content should help customers:
Examples
- Understand what they’re agreeing to
- Know how their info will be shared and who it will be shared with
- Know what they need to do or provide to move forward
- Understand the benefits of sharing their info
- Feel confident about their decision to give consent
Legal review
Send all consent content through legal review before it goes to development. If you make changes to existing consent content, send it through legal review again, before changes are deployed.
Legal review processes vary by team and project, so work closely with your product manager and design lead. Some teams have a dedicated legal contact.
Consent and permission
Use agree or I agree and I don’t agree in most cases.
If the customer is agreeing to something that will be done by an Intuit brand, you can also use “allow [brand] to” or “agree to let [brand].”
Examples
- I agree
- I don’t agree
- By selecting Continue, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
- I read and agree to the QuickBooks privacy policy.
- Do you agree to let TurboTax use your information to check your eligibility for the prepaid TurboTax Visa card?
- By selecting Continue, you allow Intuit to verify your credit card.
3 levels of consent
We use 3 levels of consent to guide consent content design.
The specific level depends on:
- What type of customer info is being collected or shared
- How the info will be used
- What we need the customer to do to show consent
If you have multiple types of consent happening on the same screen, follow guidelines for the most stringent use case (highest level). For specific style guidelines for each level, see the links that follow.
Level 1: Informed consent
Informed consent content raises quick, simple awareness to let customers know what they’re agreeing to by clicking a specific button. Use it when there are no harmful or irreversible consequences for customers, and you don’t want to slow them down or raise a red flag.
Use it for:
- Accepting terms and conditions or privacy policies
- Disclaimers (with no serious consequences)
- Offers to import data into QuickBooks, TurboTax, Mint, or ProConnect
Level 2: Mindful consent
Mindful consent makes customers aware of a specific action that has consequences. For example, clicking a button that allows us to process their credit card payment. Use it when you want customers to pause and take clear, conscious action to ensure they know what they’re agreeing to.
Use it for:
- Monetary transactions (processing a payment, moving money, etc.)
- Opening a new financial account (debit or credit) or sending customers a new account card
- Helping customers opt into a service
Level 3: Data as consent
Data as consent raises the highest level of awareness to make sure customers understand exactly how their data will be used, especially when there are legal implications. For example, when we use the tax info they’ve given us to get their credit score or check eligibility for a credit card.
Use it for:
- Sharing or using tax info for non-tax purposes
- Requesting a tax extension from the IRS on behalf of a customer
- Transactions where we’re legally required to collect an electronic signature or other personal data to confirm consent
