Global Privacy Control (GPC)

A browser extension, browser setting or other user agent can communicate GPC through a standardized HTTP header or browser-facing interface. Its aim is to let an individual express a privacy preference without manually visiting every site’s opt-out page. The signal concerns specific sale or sharing activities; it is not a universal instruction to delete all information or block every cookie.

For a website owner, responding to GPC requires both technical detection and a policy decision informed by applicable law. In jurisdictions that recognize opt-out preference signals, a business may have duties to honor valid requests. The system must ensure advertising vendors, consent settings and downstream data sharing respect the visitor’s choice where required. Merely reading a request header does not establish legal compliance.

The W3C’s September 2026 working draft describes how GPC is transmitted, but its draft status should not be presented as a final international legal mandate. Its relationship to consent banners, jurisdictional exemptions and data rights varies. Unlike a Google-specific consent signal, GPC communicates a cross-site privacy preference independently of any one advertising platform.