Description

MantaWeb Consent Shield is a privacy consent management plugin for WordPress built by MantaWeb. It combines a configurable consent banner with an active script and cookie blocker, a full audit log, and a compliance checklist – all without sending any data to external servers.

Who it is for

Any WordPress site that needs to comply with:

Israeli Privacy Law Amendment 13 (Tikun 13, in force August 2025)
GDPR + ePrivacy Directive (EU / UK)
CCPA “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” (California)

How it works

When a visitor lands on your site, Consent Shield shows a consent banner before any third-party scripts run. Scripts are blocked server-side using an output-buffer HTML rewriter – not just via the WordPress wp_enqueue_script filter. This means inline scripts (Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, GA4 config calls), iframes (YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps), and tracking pixels are all held until the visitor gives consent, even when the page is served from a Cloudflare cache or WP-Rocket.

After consent, the plugin stores an immutable record (INSERT-only – no UPDATEs) in a local database table and fires Google Consent Mode v2 signals automatically for GA4 and Google Ads.

Key features – Free

4-category consent banner
* Necessary, Functional, Analytics, Marketing categories
* 1-button, 2-button, and 3-button layouts (configurable in the wizard)
* Fully customizable text – edit every word the visitor sees from the admin UI
* Floating privacy pill for post-consent withdrawal (required by Tikun 13)
* [mantacs_dsar_button] shortcode: adds a “Request my data” button that opens the visitor’s mail client with a pre-filled DSAR email addressed to your DPO

Real script and cookie blocker
* Output-buffer HTML rewriter – blocks scripts and iframes that bypass wp_enqueue_script
* Click-to-load placeholders for YouTube, Vimeo, and Google Maps embeds
* Cookie Sweeper removes cookies not belonging to consented categories on consent change
* Works behind Cloudflare cache, WP-Rocket, and other full-page caching systems
* ~50 built-in service definitions including Israeli payment gateways (Tranzila, Cardcom, Bit, iCount, ActiveTrail, Smoove)

Compliance tools
* Google Consent Mode v2 automatic wiring for GA4
* IP anonymization – IPv4 masked to /24, IPv6 to /48 (default ON)
* Tikun 13 compliance checklist with automatic checks and manual-check guidance
* Policy versioning – one click forces re-consent from all visitors
* Bot detection – hides the popup from search engine crawlers

Audit and data management
* Immutable consent log (INSERT-only) for a complete audit trail
* CSV export from the admin UI
* Admin activity log tracks every settings change
* WP-CLI commands: wp pcm status, wp pcm consents export, wp pcm policy bump, wp pcm tikun13 check, wp pcm wizard reset, wp pcm cache flush

Setup
* 5-step guided setup wizard (~3 minutes)
* All banner texts editable from the admin “Custom Texts” tab
* Light/dark mode support via CSS custom properties

What makes it different

Real blocker, not just an enqueue filter. Most consent plugins only hook into wp_enqueue_script. Consent Shield rewrites the HTML output server-side, so GTM’s dataLayer push, inline fbq() calls, and hardcoded <script> tags are all blocked before the visitor even downloads the page.

Cloudflare-safe architecture. Because the HTML is identical for all visitors (scripts disabled by default), cached pages work correctly. The client-side bootstrap JS reads the consent cookie and re-enables the right scripts in real time – no PHP run required.

100% self-hosted – a privacy tool that respects privacy. Many popular consent solutions are SaaS platforms: every consent event, and with it your visitors’ data, flows through a third-party cloud. Consent Shield sends nothing anywhere – no telemetry, no phone-home, no external consent management platform. Consent records live in your own database, under your control.

Tikun 13-first. Built from scratch for Israeli Privacy Law compliance, not retrofitted from a GDPR-only plugin.

Fully functional, no locked features

Every feature described above is included and fully functional. This plugin contains no locked or disabled functionality: no license keys, no trials, no “Pro” badges on grayed-out controls.

Consent Shield Pro (separate full version)

A separate, paid Pro version (distributed by MantaWeb, not hosted on WordPress.org) contains everything in this plugin plus geo-routed banner text (GDPR/CCPA variants by visitor country), a visual banner-layout picker, per-button colors with gradients and hover effects, embedded Hebrew web fonts, and an auto-detect scanner. Installing Pro replaces this plugin; all settings and consent data carry over automatically. Full feature comparison: manta-web.co.il/consent-shield/en

MantaWeb also offers a separate, paid Tikun 13 implementation service (privacy-policy drafting and site setup); details are on the “MantaWeb Services” screen inside the plugin.

External services

This plugin does NOT connect to, call, or send any data to any external or third-party service. It makes no outbound HTTP requests. Every consent record, log entry and setting is stored only in your own WordPress database. No telemetry, no phone-home, no remote fonts, no remote analytics, and no license or activation checks.

Please note about the code: the plugin contains a built-in list of third-party tracker domain names (for example googletagmanager.com, connect.facebook.net, embed.tawk.to, widget.intercom.io). These strings are NOT services the plugin contacts. They are the plugin’s blocklist: the trackers the plugin looks for in your page’s HTML and BLOCKS (neutralizes) until the visitor consents. The plugin never loads or requests any of these domains itself; it only prevents your own theme/other plugins from loading them before consent.

The MantaWeb Services admin page contains plain HTML links to the MantaWeb website and to WhatsApp. Nothing is sent when the page loads; a link only opens the target site in a new tab if you click it.

Screenshots

The consent banner - Accept All / Essential Only / Decline, plus a "Customize" option, shown over a live site. — The consent banner – Accept All / Essential Only / Decline, plus a “Customize” option, shown over a live site.

Granular per-category consent. Visitors toggle Functional, Analytics and Marketing independently; Essential is always on. — The consent banner – Accept All / Essential Only / Decline, plus a “Customize” option, shown over a live site.

Installation

In WP Admin go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP, and activate.
A yellow admin notice will appear: “Consent Shield: You have not configured the plugin yet.” Click Launch Setup Wizard.
Complete the 5-step wizard:
- Step 1 – DPO email address and company / site name
- Step 2 – Select your Privacy Policy page
- Step 3 – Banner layout (1, 2, or 3 buttons) and floating privacy pill position
- Step 4 – Compliance toggles (IP anonymization, Google Consent Mode v2, advanced blocker, bot hiding)
- Step 5 – Summary and finish
If you use Cloudflare, WP-Rocket, or another caching system, purge the cache once after activation.
Optionally check the Tikun 13 Compliance page for an automated checklist and manual guidance.

FAQ

Does it block scripts before the visitor gives consent?: Yes. Consent Shield uses a PHP output-buffer rewriter that intercepts the HTML before it is sent to the browser. Scripts are replaced with inert placeholders (type="text/plain" data-pcm-src="..."). A lightweight bootstrap JS file activates only the scripts belonging to categories the visitor has consented to. This happens even when PHP is not involved in serving a cached page.
Does it work with Cloudflare / WP-Rocket / other caching systems?: Yes. The HTML served to all visitors is identical – scripts are disabled in the static HTML. The client-side JS reads the visitor’s consent cookie and re-enables scripts in real time. Caching systems serve the same cached HTML to everyone; the per-visitor decision is made in the browser.
Is it GDPR compliant?: Yes for the plugin’s scope. Consent Shield provides: prior consent before non-essential scripts run, granular category selection, a clear withdrawal mechanism, an immutable consent audit log with IP anonymization, and a policy versioning mechanism. Your legal counsel should review your overall compliance posture including your privacy policy content.
Is it CCPA compliant?: Basic CCPA support is included: a “Do Not Sell” flow via the consent banner. Geo-targeted CCPA-specific banner text for US visitors is available in the separate Consent Shield Pro add-on.
Is it Tikun 13 (Israeli Privacy Law Amendment 13) compliant?: Yes within the plugin’s scope. Consent Shield covers: informed consent before non-essential data collection, granular category choices, visitor withdrawal rights (floating pill + DSAR shortcode), and an immutable consent log. The remaining Tikun 13 obligations – legal privacy policy text, consent checkboxes across forms, and DPO registration – require external work. See the Tikun 13 Compliance page inside the plugin for a checklist.
Does it phone home or send data to external servers?: No. Every consent record, admin log entry, and configuration option is stored in your WordPress database. Nothing is sent to MantaWeb or any other external service.
How are consent records stored?: In a dedicated pcm_consents database table using INSERT-only writes. Records are never updated or deleted via normal plugin operation, preserving a complete audit trail. You can export the full log to CSV from the admin UI.
How do I customize the banner text?: Go to Privacy Management > Privacy Settings, then click the Custom Texts tab. Every string the visitor sees – banner message, button labels, category names and descriptions, privacy policy link text, and the floating pill label – can be overridden per-field. Leave a field blank to use the default (shown as placeholder).
How do I add a “Withdraw consent” or “My privacy choices” link?: Two options:
1. The floating privacy pill appears automatically in the position you configured in the wizard. Clicking it reopens the consent banner.
2. Add [mantacs_dsar_button] to any page to place a “Request my data” button that opens the visitor’s mail client with a pre-filled DSAR email to your DPO.
How do I export consent records for an audit?: Go to Privacy Management > Visitor Activity Log and click Export CSV. The export is logged in the Admin Activity Log with the username that performed it.
What happens if something on my site breaks after activation?: Add define('PCM_DISABLE_OB', true); to your wp-config.php. This disables the output-buffer rewriter and falls back to conservative WordPress enqueue-only blocking. You can re-enable the advanced blocker once you have identified the conflict.
Is there a Pro version?: Yes. Consent Shield Pro is a separate full version, distributed by MantaWeb (not hosted on WordPress.org). On top of everything in this free plugin it adds geo-routed banner text (GDPR / CCPA variants by visitor country), a visual banner-layout picker, per-button colors with gradients and hover effects, embedded Hebrew web fonts, and an auto-detect tracker scanner. Installing Pro replaces this plugin; every setting and consent record carries over automatically. See the full feature comparison at manta-web.co.il/consent-shield/en.

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“MantaWeb Consent Shield – Cookie Consent Banner & Real Cookie Blocker (GDPR, CCPA, Tikun 13)” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Manta~Web

Translate “MantaWeb Consent Shield – Cookie Consent Banner & Real Cookie Blocker (GDPR, CCPA, Tikun 13)” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

5.0.4

Sanitization polish: the numeric settings (page IDs, retention, delay, log limit, font sizes) now go through absint().

5.0.3

Fixed: the admin CSS/JS were not loaded on the main settings screen (the hook test did not match the menu slug), so the live popup preview only refreshed after saving. All plugin screens now load their assets and the preview updates as you type.
Fixed the remaining Plugin Check errors: escaped the font-size field output and prepared every direct database read with the %i identifier placeholder.

5.0.2

WordPress.org review compliance pass (round 3). Removed the artificial caps: log-retention days, maximum stored records and font sizes are now fully adjustable in this free plugin (no companion-plugin unlock hooks remain). Renamed the internal code prefix from “pcm” to the unique 4+ character prefix “mantacs” across defines, class, namespaces, options, hooks, AJAX actions, script handles, page slugs and the DSAR shortcode; existing installs migrate their saved settings automatically. Wrapped the CSV export headers in translation functions. Switched all direct database reads to $wpdb->prepare() with the %i identifier placeholder (requires WordPress 6.2+).

5.0.1

WordPress.org review compliance pass. Removed every remaining tier-gated code path so the plugin contains only free, fully-functional features (per-button colours, numeric font sizes, custom fonts, and larger retention/log limits were removed entirely from this plugin; they exist only in the separate paid Pro version, which is not hosted here). Hardened input sanitization for all $_SERVER / $_COOKIE / $_GET reads. Paired the output-buffer rewriter with an explicit close on shutdown. Clarified in this readme that the plugin makes no external calls and that the tracker domain names in the code are a blocklist, not services it contacts. Fixed the Plugin URI.

5.0.0

Renamed to “MantaWeb Consent Shield” (new slug: mantaweb-consent-shield).
Removed all locked/tier-gated functionality from this plugin. Everything it ships is fully functional; premium capabilities (geo-routed banner text, per-button colors, Hebrew web fonts and numeric sizes, extended retention/log limits, auto-detect scanner) moved to the separate Consent Shield Pro add-on, which is distributed by MantaWeb and hooks into this plugin’s public filters and actions.
Removed the Pro-waitlist email form. The plugin now makes no external calls of any kind.
Moved the last inline admin script into the enqueued admin JavaScript.

4.4.13

Cleared the last Plugin Check errors: added translator comments and output escaping to the remaining placeholder strings, and annotated the output-buffer script rewriter. The plugin now passes Plugin Check with no errors.

4.4.12

WordPress.org Plugin Check compliance pass: escaped all admin-page output, added translator comments to strings with placeholders, moved inline <style> blocks into the stylesheet, switched the inline blocker script to wp_print_inline_script_tag(), replaced date()/parse_url() with gmdate()/wp_parse_url(), and limited the readme to 5 tags. No functional or visual changes.

4.4.11

Banner buttons now align with the start of the reading direction (left in English/LTR, right in Hebrew/Arabic) so they line up under the message text instead of being pushed to the opposite side.

4.4.10

Fixed: the “Plugin Language” override did nothing. Selecting English (or any language) left the admin screens and the visitor banner in the site language. WordPress loads a plugin’s translation “just in time” on the first string, and that path ignored the plugin_locale filter the override relied on – so the site-language .mo was already loaded and, since English is the source language, there was no English .mo to replace it. The override now works via the load_textdomain_mofile filter, which every load path honours, and forces English by leaving the text domain unloaded.
Fixed: forcing an LTR language on an RTL site (or vice-versa) now flips text direction correctly. Banner, wizard and settings preview follow the forced language’s direction instead of the site locale, so an English banner on a Hebrew site reads left-to-right.

4.4.9

Fixed: the “Customize” category panel rendered right-to-left on English (and other LTR) sites. Panel alignment and the on/off toggle animation were hardcoded to RTL geometry. Direction is now derived from the site locale – LTR by default, RTL for Hebrew/Arabic – and the popup carries an explicit direction so it no longer depends on the theme setting dir on the <html> element. Also applies to the click-to-load placeholder and the footer privacy link.

4.4.8

Critical fix: all popup buttons were dead when reopening via the Privacy Pill. The click handlers (Accept All / Essential Only / Decline / Customize / Save Choices) were only wired for visitors WITHOUT existing consent – the initializer returned early for returning visitors, so the popup the pill reopened had no event listeners at all. Handlers are now wired unconditionally. This latent bug existed since the pill was introduced and surfaced once 4.4.6/4.4.7 made the pill reopen work reliably.

4.4.7

Full-codebase review release – 10 fixes, 2 of them critical consent-integrity bugs:

Fixed: scripts blocked via handles/URL patterns were never re-enabled after consent. Two combined defects: the server-side consent check still compared the cookie against the plain string accept (the cookie has been JSON since 4.4.1), and the legacy-blocked <script> tags carried no data-pcm-category, which the restore logic requires. Both sides fixed; already-cached pages are healed by a client-side category fallback.
Fixed: the category toggles showed everything OFF after “Accept All”. The panel prefill did not understand the 4.4.1 wrapped-choice cookie format – reopening via the privacy pill displayed all optional categories unchecked, and re-saving from that state silently downgraded the visitor’s consent to necessary-only.
Fixed: the AJAX endpoint set the consent cookie in the pre-4.4.1 plain-string format. With COOKIE_DOMAIN defined this created a second, stale cookie the client JS never overwrote – causing an endless re-consent loop after a policy bump. The server now writes the exact JSON shape the client writes.
Fixed: crawler requests could poison full-page caches with bannerless HTML. The bot check ran server-side, so a crawler priming Cloudflare/WP Rocket cache produced pages with no consent banner for every visitor. Bot hiding now happens client-side; the markup (hidden by default CSS) is always rendered.
Fixed: “Bump policy version” was ignored when the Advanced Blocker was disabled (the policy version was only exposed through the blocker bootstrap). It is now passed to the popup script directly.
Performance: table-schema checks (dbDelta) no longer run on every request – they are gated behind a stored schema version and run only on install/upgrade.
Privacy: removed the visitor UUID from the inline blocker payload. It was baked into cached HTML, exposing the cache-priming visitor’s identifier to everyone.
Retention cron now compares timestamps in UTC (matching how consent records are stored).
Setup Wizard: the privacy-policy dropdown now lists up to 500 pages, sorted by title.
Internal: normalized newline-splitting regexes in the settings save handler.

4.4.6

Fixed: Floating Privacy Pill click did nothing in the first 5 seconds after page load. A defensive MutationObserver installed when a visitor already had consent was force-hiding the popup whenever its style.display changed – including the intentional change triggered by clicking the pill. Result: visitors saw the pill, clicked it, and the pill disappeared without the preferences modal ever opening. The observer is now disconnected as soon as a pill click occurs.
Fixed: Wizard navigation arrows displayed on the wrong visual side in Hebrew RTL. Source order was being flipped for RTL on top of the browser’s own bidi re-ordering, producing a double-flip. The same string order now works for both directions; only the arrow glyph ( vs ) varies.

4.4.5

Removed duplicated arrows in Hebrew/Spanish wizard buttons (translation strings no longer ship with baked-in arrow glyphs).
Renamed top-level admin menu from “Privacy Management” to “Consent Shield” for brand consistency.

4.4.4

Added a visible “Notice: clicking this button sends your email to the plugin author” disclosure above the Pro waitlist form (Alex security audit MEDIUM-2).
Disclosed the wp_mail to gabi@manta-web.co.il in the readme “External services” section (Alex MEDIUM-1).

4.4.3

Removed redundant arrow from the wizard “Skip” link.
Expanded Hebrew and Arabic translations from ~77 to ~470 strings (full UI coverage).
Added Spanish (es_ES) translation.

4.4.2

New: “Plugin Language” admin option – override the WP site locale for the consent UI (auto / English / Hebrew / Arabic / Spanish).
Direction-aware wizard navigation arrows.

4.4.1

Critical fix: consent persistence broke on sites whose admin had ever pressed “Bump policy version”. Plain-string cookie values (accept / essential / decline) were treated as policy_version=0 by hasConsent(), which made every page load re-show the banner. All consent values are now wrapped in JSON with the current policy_version.

4.4.0

Full internationalization (i18n): Default language switched from Hebrew to English. All 380+ user-facing strings are now translatable via the standard WordPress __() / esc_html__() system with text domain consent-shield. Ships with Hebrew (he_IL) and Arabic (ar) starter translations. Additional languages available via translate.wordpress.org.
RTL direction is now conditional on site locale (is_rtl()). Was previously hardcoded to direction:rtl in three CSS blocks and one inline style, forcing RTL even on LTR sites.
Plugin header Description rewritten to English for correct wp.org indexing.
Services page prices removed – replaced with “Contact us for pricing” and a landing-page CTA.
load_plugin_textdomain wired on init; Domain Path: /languages added to plugin header.
readme.txt rewritten to English-primary for wp.org submission compliance.

4.3.5

Fixed: WP Rocket admin notice still showed on the services page after v4.3.4 because remove_all_actions('admin_notices') ran too late. Moved suppression to the current_screen hook.
Fixed: Hero font rendered with cramped Hebrew glyphs on Windows (Segoe UI at weight 800). Switched to Hebrew-first font stack and dropped font-weight from 800 to 700 with letter-spacing reset to 0.

4.3.4

Services page: 8 UX fixes from live review – font inheritance, admin-notice suppression, RTL workflow-step number overlap, copy corrections, CTA replaced from mailto to web-form link.

4.3.3

Fixed: Click-to-load placeholders did not unwrap after “Accept All”.
Fixed: Category toggles showed pre-consent state after reopening via the floating pill.

4.3.2

Free/Pro UI lockdown: Hebrew web fonts, per-button colors, custom font sizes, extended retention, and auto-detect buttons are now gated behind Pro badges. Server-side clamps enforce limits on save.

4.3.1

DSAR cleanup: removed three orphan references to automated DSAR emails that no longer exist in the Free plugin.
New [consent_shield_dsar_button] shortcode for manual DSAR contact channel.

4.3.0

Free/Pro tier split. Auto-scanner, DSAR REST API, WPML adapter, WooCommerce integration, and geo-routing moved to consent-shield-pro. Service catalog trimmed from 115 to ~50 entries.
Pro waitlist now sends a wp_mail() notification to MantaWeb on signup.

4.2.1

New MantaWeb Services page replacing the speculative “Upgrade to Pro” template. Shows real service offering (Tikun 13 compliance package) with WhatsApp and web-form CTAs.

4.2.0

Rebrand: Privacy Consent Manager Consent Shield by MantaWeb. Plugin slug updated to consent-shield. No data loss on upgrade – internal identifiers (pcm_options, pcm_consents, PCM_* constants) kept stable.

4.1.0

Typography overhaul with Hebrew-aware font stack and discoverable font controls.
Custom-font field collapses unless the “Other” option is selected.

4.0.0

Initial public release of Consent Shield. Real output-buffer script blocker, 4-category consent banner, Google Consent Mode v2, 5-step setup wizard, Tikun 13 compliance checklist, IP anonymization, floating privacy pill, WP-CLI commands.