Web Forms: Opt out or Opt in by default?

In the past website forms tended to be set up such that if you accepted the defaults you were assumed to agree to whatever was being asked (eg “Accept new product and marketing information.” or “Agree to information being passed to business partners”). So the boxes were ticked for you already by default and you had to untick them to “opt out”.

This is no longer acceptable – now the default position must be that the visitor does something positive (eg tick the box) to “opt in” otherwise you do not have their permission therefore you do not have the right.