Why it is not optional
Consent must be informed, which means the information must be understandable to the person making the choice. A visitor’s country or browser language does not by itself prove comprehension, so offer an obvious language selector, match supported browser preferences and use a deliberate fallback rather than assuming that English is understood.
How matching works
A published configuration carries translations keyed by language code, up to sixty of them. The runtime matches the visitor’s browser language preferences against what is available (first on the full tag, then on the base language, so a visitor requesting `pt-BR` will match a `pt` translation) and falls back to the property’s default language when nothing matches.
Each translation carries the banner copy and the category labels and descriptions, which is the important structural detail: the categories are translated, not just the buttons.
Which strings actually matter
| String | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Category descriptions | This is the informing. Translate these first. |
| Banner description | What the site is asking for and why |
| Accept and reject labels | Must be equally clear, not just equally present |
| Always-active label | Explains why necessary items have no control |
| Blocked-frame copy | What a visitor sees in place of a gated embed |
| Save-error copy | What happens when a decision could not be recorded |
Machine translation is a starting point, not a finish
Consent copy is legal-adjacent text where a mistranslation of "necessary" or "optional" changes the meaning of the choice. Have a speaker read it, particularly for the markets you actually sell in.
Common questions
Should the banner follow the site language or the browser language?
The runtime matches browser language preferences and falls back to the property default. Where your site has an explicit language switcher, keeping the two consistent avoids a page in one language and a banner in another.
Do I need every language my analytics shows?
Prioritise the markets you sell in and the regimes you are regulated by. A long tail of rarely used languages matters less than getting your main markets genuinely right.
Sources and verification
Verified on . Product-behaviour statements were checked against the current implementation and tests. The links below are the verification basis recorded for this article. They support the stated facts, not a legal conclusion for every site or configuration; recheck changing vendor behaviour before relying on it in production.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
Legislation
Checked
- StrongPrivacy documentation
Product documentation
Checked
See what your own site is loading
A browser scan reports the requests and storage it observed during the sampled journey. Use configured workspace scans to compare the states and pages that matter to your implementation.