"Consent Requests: your data-visibility inbox"

What the Consent Requests inbox is

Every benchmark, leaderboard, and network view Verinode builds from your data defaults to anonymous-aggregate. Your numbers count toward the peer distribution, but your name is never attached to them unless you say so. Consent Requests is the inbox where that changes: it is the one place your network's franchisor or association (HQ) can ask, by name, to surface your data somewhere more specific than the anonymous default, and the one place you approve, decline, or later revoke that ask.

Nothing in this inbox happens automatically. HQ composes each request on their side (at their Broadcast tool's Consent tab), naming what they want to see, why, and for how long. It lands here as a pending ask. Until you approve it, your default visibility is unchanged: anonymous-aggregate. Verinode does not decide on your behalf and does not surface your name to anyone without your explicit approval on the specific request in front of you.

Where to find it

Open Consent Requests from the sidebar, or go straight to /consent-requests. The page has three stacked rows: a hero summary at the top, your pending asks in the middle, and what was resolved recently at the bottom.

The hero panel

At the top of the page, a hero panel reads "From your network HQ" and shows one large number: how many requests are currently pending your response. Beside it sits a pill:

• "Nothing pending" when your inbox is clear.
• "N pending" when one or more requests are waiting on you.

Below the number, a line of context changes depending on your history:

• If you have never had a request and have nothing resolved either, it reads: "Your franchisor will ask here when they want to surface your data by name on a leaderboard, deep-dive into a metric, or feature you in a case study. Default visibility stays anonymous-aggregate until you approve."
• If your inbox is clear but you resolved requests in the last 30 days, it reads: "N resolved in the last 30 days."
• If something is pending, it reads: "Oldest pending asked [X time] ago. Default visibility stays anonymous-aggregate until you respond."

Three smaller figures sit beside the headline:

• Approved 30d, how many requests you approved in the last 30 days ("You shared by name").
• Declined 30d, how many you turned down ("You declined").
• Pending kinds, how many distinct types of ask are currently sitting in your pending row ("Distinct request types").

Asks awaiting your response

The "Asks awaiting your response" row holds one tile per pending request. Each tile shows:

• A label combining the kind of ask and the group name, for example "Named leaderboard · Ridgeline Restoration Network." If Verinode cannot resolve which group sent it, the label falls back to "Your network."
• A headline listing the specific metrics involved (up to two, with a "+N more" tag if there are further metrics), or "No metrics specified" if HQ did not scope it to particular metrics.
• HQ's stated rationale for the ask, or "No rationale provided" if they left it blank.
• A meta line: how long ago the request was asked, and when it expires ("expires in N days," "expires tomorrow," "expires today," or "no expiry" if HQ set none).

Click a tile to open the response modal (covered below) and act on it. If nothing is waiting on you, the row reads: "Nothing waiting on you. New asks land here when HQ wants to surface your data by name."

The five kinds of ask

HQ can send five kinds of request. The kind determines what "approving" actually does:

• Named leaderboard. HQ wants to show your name on the leaderboard for the named metrics. The leaderboard's default is anonymous; approving puts your name on it for those specific metrics.
• Named view. HQ wants a specific metric tied to your name for a defined time window, without necessarily putting you on a public leaderboard.
• Case study. HQ wants to feature your data in a research publication or case study.
• Deep data. HQ wants drill-down access to underlying detail (for example, job-level detail) within the scope they defined, rather than the aggregate view they normally see.
• Item 19 cohort. HQ is preparing the Item 19 Financial Performance Representation for their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). Approving adds your anonymized financial-period and jobs facts to that cohort's distribution. Your individual numbers are never disclosed to HQ this way, only network-wide percentile bands are computed from the cohort.

Responding to a request

Opening a pending tile shows the response modal with everything HQ specified:

• The group name and current status at the top, and a plain-language description of what this kind of request means (the same wording covered above).
• For an Item 19 cohort ask: the cohort's display name and the methodology version HQ is using.
• Metrics, the exact metrics in scope, if HQ specified any.
• Window, the start and end of the time period in scope, if HQ set one ("any" or "open" fill in whichever end is unset).
• Asked, how long ago the request came in.
• Expires, the date the request lapses, if HQ set an expiry.
• HQ's stated rationale, shown in its own panel labeled "HQ's rationale" when they provided one.

1. 1Read the rationale and the scope (metrics, window, expiry) so you know exactly what you would be agreeing to.
2. 2If you are inclined to say no, type a short reason in the Decline reason (optional) field, this is sent back to HQ so they understand why.
3. 3Click Decline to turn the request down, or Approve to grant it as specified. Both actions apply immediately and close the modal.

Declining is not a data event by itself, nothing is shared, and Verinode records your reason (if you gave one) as the closing note on the request. Approving takes effect right away: your name becomes attached to the specific leaderboard, view, case study, deep-data scope, or Item 19 cohort HQ asked for, and nothing more.

Changing your mind after approving

Once you have approved a request, reopening its tile shows a different modal: a note confirming the date you approved it, and a single control, Revoke approval, with an optional Revoke reason field. Clicking it flips the request to withdrawn.

A request that is declined, withdrawn, or expired is closed and read-only. Reopening it shows a simple note: "This request is closed. No further action needed." If you declined it with a reason, that reason is shown alongside.

Recently resolved

The "Recently resolved" row lists requests you have already acted on (or that expired) in the last 30 days, newest first, up to 12 at a time. Each tile shows:

• A label combining the kind and the resulting status: Approved, Declined, Withdrawn, or Expired.
• The group name as the headline.
• The first part of HQ's rationale, if any.
• A meta line showing when it was approved or declined, or, for withdrawn and expired requests, when it was last updated.

Each status carries its own color accent so you can scan the row at a glance: green for approved, red for declined, and a neutral gray for withdrawn or expired. Clicking a resolved tile reopens the same modal in its read-only or revoke-capable state, depending on whether it is still approved.

If nothing has resolved in the last 30 days, the row reads: "No resolved requests in the last 30 days."

Best-practice example

Say your franchisor sends a named leaderboard ask tied to your on-time completion rate, with a 30-day window and a rationale explaining they want to spotlight top performers at the annual conference. Open the tile, read the rationale and the window, and decide: if you are proud of that number and comfortable being named for it, approve it, your name goes on that leaderboard for that metric only, nothing else changes. If you would rather stay anonymous, decline with a one-line reason so HQ understands it was a deliberate no, not an oversight. Either way, every other benchmark you contribute to keeps its anonymous default untouched.

Related reading

• Benchmarks overview for how the anonymous-aggregate default this inbox protects actually works.
• How benchmarks work and Reading a benchmark for the mechanics behind the metrics HQ can ask to see by name.
• The decision workspace and The Feed for how an approval or decline can surface elsewhere on the platform.
• Understanding your margin if an Item 19 cohort ask has you wondering what "financial-period facts" means in practice.