diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 53cac19..2458e06 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\CoreServiceProvider",
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\AuthServiceProvider",
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\CustomerServiceProvider",
+        "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\CheckoutServiceProvider",
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\PaymentServiceProvider",
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\LocalizationServiceProvider",
         "Modules\\Core\\Providers\\CatalogServiceProvider",
diff --git a/config/legal.php b/config/legal.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd37e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/legal.php
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?php
+
+return [
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Policy versions
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    |
+    | Plain version strings, bumped by whoever edits the corresponding legal
+    | page — recorded alongside every consent/acceptance so a later dispute
+    | ("what did the shopper actually agree to?") can be answered from the
+    | order/cart itself rather than a live lookup against whatever the pages
+    | say TODAY. Not tied to any CMS/database row on purpose — this stays a
+    | plain config value the same way payment.php's cart_pipeline is a plain
+    | cross-cutting setting, not a per-instance one.
+    |
+    */
+    'privacy_policy_version' => env('LEGAL_PRIVACY_POLICY_VERSION', '2026-01-01'),
+
+    'terms_version' => env('LEGAL_TERMS_VERSION', '2026-01-01'),
+];
diff --git a/src/Cart/Commands/DetectAbandonedCarts.php b/src/Cart/Commands/DetectAbandonedCarts.php
index 80f51aa..4663607 100644
--- a/src/Cart/Commands/DetectAbandonedCarts.php
+++ b/src/Cart/Commands/DetectAbandonedCarts.php
@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@ use Modules\Core\Recovery\Events\CheckoutAbandoned;
  * state at all; every cart still matching the query below refires its event
  * on every run until Recovery (not yet built — see
  * docs/recovery-strategies.md) owns its own dedup/tracking table.
+ *
+ * Both queries require meta->recovery_consent = true — CartAbandoned/
+ * CheckoutAbandoned exist specifically to drive future recovery-email
+ * sends (Checkout\Services\CheckoutService::setRecoveryConsent() is where
+ * that consent is actually recorded), and a non-consenting cart's
+ * abandonment must never be dispatched at all, not merely filtered later
+ * at send time — see docs referenced above for the legal reasoning.
  */
 class DetectAbandonedCarts extends Command
 {
@@ -48,6 +55,7 @@ class DetectAbandonedCarts extends Command
         Cart::query()
             ->whereDoesntHave('orders')
             ->where('updated_at', '<=', $cutoff)
+            ->where('meta->recovery_consent', true)
             ->with('lines')
             ->chunkById(200, function ($carts) use (&$cartsAbandoned) {
                 foreach ($carts as $cart) {
@@ -64,6 +72,7 @@ class DetectAbandonedCarts extends Command
         Cart::query()
             ->whereHas('orders', fn ($query) => $query->whereNull('placed_at'))
             ->where('updated_at', '<=', $cutoff)
+            ->where('meta->recovery_consent', true)
             ->with(['orders' => fn ($query) => $query->whereNull('placed_at')])
             ->chunkById(200, function ($carts) use (&$checkoutsAbandoned) {
                 foreach ($carts as $cart) {
diff --git a/src/Checkout/Events/RecoveryConsentSet.php b/src/Checkout/Events/RecoveryConsentSet.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..127734d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Checkout/Events/RecoveryConsentSet.php
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Modules\Core\Checkout\Events;
+
+use Lunar\Models\Cart;
+
+/**
+ * Dispatched by CheckoutService::setRecoveryConsent() every time the
+ * shopper's promotional/abandoned-cart-recovery opt-in changes — including
+ * an explicit opt-OUT (a later submit with the checkbox unticked), not
+ * just an opt-in. $consent is the new value, already written to
+ * Cart::meta by the time this fires.
+ */
+class RecoveryConsentSet
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        public readonly Cart $cart,
+        public readonly bool $consent,
+    ) {}
+}
diff --git a/src/Checkout/Exceptions/TermsNotAcceptedException.php b/src/Checkout/Exceptions/TermsNotAcceptedException.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e70fc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Checkout/Exceptions/TermsNotAcceptedException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Modules\Core\Checkout\Exceptions;
+
+use RuntimeException;
+
+/**
+ * Thrown by CheckoutService::initiatePayment() when $termsAccepted is
+ * false — an Order is a consumer contract, and its acceptance must be
+ * refused rather than created-then-flagged. No Lunar exception type
+ * covers this, same reasoning as UnknownPaymentTypeException.
+ */
+class TermsNotAcceptedException extends RuntimeException
+{
+    public function __construct()
+    {
+        parent::__construct('The order cannot be placed until the terms have been accepted.');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Checkout/Services/CheckoutService.php b/src/Checkout/Services/CheckoutService.php
index bee0604..ef80b4f 100644
--- a/src/Checkout/Services/CheckoutService.php
+++ b/src/Checkout/Services/CheckoutService.php
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@ use Lunar\Models\Cart;
 use Modules\Core\Cart\Services\CartService;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Events\BillingAddressSet;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Events\PaymentMethodSelected;
+use Modules\Core\Checkout\Events\RecoveryConsentSet;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Events\ShippingAddressSet;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Events\ShippingOptionSelected;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Exceptions\InvalidShippingOptionException;
+use Modules\Core\Checkout\Exceptions\TermsNotAcceptedException;
 use Modules\Core\Checkout\Exceptions\UnknownPaymentTypeException;
 use Modules\Core\Payment\DTOs\PaymentResult;
 use Modules\Core\Payment\Models\PaymentMethod;
@@ -65,6 +67,49 @@ class CheckoutService
         return $cart;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The shopper's promotional/abandoned-cart-recovery opt-in — a
+     * cart-level decision, deliberately independent of setShippingAddress()/
+     * setBillingAddress(): consent is given once, and must NOT be reset or
+     * re-asked just because the shopper later changes which address is on
+     * the cart (a different Addressable being set is not a withdrawal of
+     * consent). Only an explicit call to THIS method — the checkbox itself
+     * being submitted, checked or unchecked — ever changes it; calling it
+     * again with false is exactly how a later opt-out is recorded.
+     *
+     * Stored on Cart::meta (interim, per the legal design this implements —
+     * a real column/consent record is the eventual target) as
+     * recovery_consent (bool), recovery_consent_at (ISO 8601 timestamp,
+     * null when $consent is false), and recovery_consent_policy_version
+     * (config('legal.privacy_policy_version') at the moment of consent —
+     * so a later dispute is answered from what was actually agreed to,
+     * not whatever the policy says today). Separate from any future
+     * newsletter opt-in — recovery consent is its own scope, never merged
+     * with marketing-newsletter consent.
+     *
+     * Deliberately does not merge with the meta-writing pattern
+     * selectPaymentMethod() uses (read-merge-save in two separate
+     * statements) — this writes both meta keys in one save, since there's
+     * no dependency between recovery_consent and anything else needing to
+     * be persisted first.
+     */
+    public function setRecoveryConsent(bool $consent): Cart
+    {
+        $cart = $this->cart->currentOrCreate();
+
+        $cart->meta = [
+            ...($cart->meta?->toArray() ?? []),
+            'recovery_consent' => $consent,
+            'recovery_consent_at' => $consent ? now()->toIso8601String() : null,
+            'recovery_consent_policy_version' => $consent ? config('legal.privacy_policy_version') : null,
+        ];
+        $cart->save();
+
+        Event::dispatch(new RecoveryConsentSet($cart, $consent));
+
+        return $cart;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Every shipping option currently available for the cart — already
      * fully backed by the merged Shipping-Carriers work: this runs every
@@ -198,6 +243,20 @@ class CheckoutService
      * Same fingerprint precondition the old placeOrder() had: mandatory,
      * not optional, checked before the draft is created.
      *
+     * $termsAccepted is likewise mandatory, not optional data a caller
+     * might omit — an Order is a consumer contract, and its acceptance
+     * must be refused (TermsNotAcceptedException, before createOrder() is
+     * ever called — the order is never created-then-flagged) rather than
+     * assumed. $policyVersion is recorded alongside it on the created
+     * Order's own meta (terms_accepted, terms_accepted_at,
+     * terms_accepted_policy_version) — the order-level equivalent of
+     * setRecoveryConsent()'s cart-level record, and the durable audit
+     * trail for a later "what did the shopper actually agree to"
+     * dispute. Written directly here (not via a separate event/listener)
+     * since the Order row this attaches to doesn't exist before
+     * createOrder() runs, and nothing else needs to react to this
+     * specific write independently of the order simply existing.
+     *
      * @param  array<string, mixed>  $data  passed through untouched to
      *   the driver's pay()/authorize() — e.g. Stripe's payment_method
      *   token.
@@ -206,11 +265,16 @@ class CheckoutService
      *   payment_method (from selectPaymentMethod()) is no longer offered
      *   — re-checked here, not just at selection time, since a method
      *   could be disabled (or its driver removed) in between
+     * @throws TermsNotAcceptedException if $termsAccepted is false
      * @throws FingerprintMismatchException
      * @throws CartException
      */
-    public function initiatePayment(string $fingerprint, array $data = []): PaymentResult
+    public function initiatePayment(string $fingerprint, bool $termsAccepted, string $policyVersion, array $data = []): PaymentResult
     {
+        if (! $termsAccepted) {
+            throw new TermsNotAcceptedException;
+        }
+
         $cart = $this->cart->currentOrCreate();
         $cart->checkFingerprint($fingerprint);
 
@@ -223,6 +287,14 @@ class CheckoutService
 
         $order = $cart->createOrder();
 
+        $order->meta = [
+            ...($order->meta?->toArray() ?? []),
+            'terms_accepted' => true,
+            'terms_accepted_at' => now()->toIso8601String(),
+            'terms_accepted_policy_version' => $policyVersion,
+        ];
+        $order->save();
+
         $driver = $this->paymentDrivers->resolve($method->driver);
         $context = ['cart_id' => $cart->id, 'order_id' => $order->id];
 
diff --git a/src/Providers/CheckoutServiceProvider.php b/src/Providers/CheckoutServiceProvider.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b35b84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Providers/CheckoutServiceProvider.php
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Modules\Core\Providers;
+
+use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
+
+class CheckoutServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
+{
+    public function register(): void
+    {
+        $this->mergeConfigFrom(__DIR__ . '/../../config/legal.php', 'legal');
+    }
+}