Show "powered by" brand link in modal/privacy center by default

[jpople]

Ticket ENG-2337

Description Of Changes

Changes Fides brand link in CMP modal and privacy center to be enabled by default rather than dependent on env variable.

Steps to Confirm

1. Remove FIDES_PRIVACY_CENTER__SHOW_BRAND_LINK from your .env
2. Verify "powered by Ethyca" link shows in modal and privacy center
3. Add FIDES_PRIVACY_CENTER__SHOW_BRAND_LINK=false to your .env
4. Verify "powered by Ethyca" link doesn't show in modal and privacy center

Pre-Merge Checklist

• Issue requirements met
• All CI pipelines succeeded
• CHANGELOG.md updated
  • Add a db-migration This indicates that a change includes a database migration label to the entry if your change includes a DB migration
  • Add a high-risk This issue suggests changes that have a high-probability of breaking existing code label to the entry if your change includes a high-risk change (i.e. potential for performance impact or unexpected regression) that should be flagged
  • Updates unreleased work already in Changelog, no new entry necessary
• UX feedback:
  • All UX related changes have been reviewed by a designer
  • No UX review needed
• Followup issues:
  • Followup issues created
  • No followup issues
• Database migrations:
  • Ensure that your downrev is up to date with the latest revision on main
  • Ensure that your downgrade() migration is correct and works
    • If a downgrade migration is not possible for this change, please call this out in the PR description!
  • No migrations
• Documentation:
  • Documentation complete, PR opened in fidesdocs
  • Documentation issue created in fidesdocs
  • If there are any new client scopes created as part of the pull request, remember to update public-facing documentation that references our scope registry
  • No documentation updates required

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Project	Deployment	Review	Updated (UTC)
fides-plus-nightly	Ready	Preview, Comment	Jan 14, 2026 4:29pm

1 Skipped Deployment

Project	Deployment	Review	Updated (UTC)
fides-privacy-center	Ignored		Jan 14, 2026 4:29pm

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Overview

Greptile Summary

Changed the default value for SHOW_BRAND_LINK from false to true by inverting the boolean check logic from === "true" || false to !== "false". This means the "powered by Ethyca" brand link will now display by default in both the CMP modal and privacy center unless explicitly disabled.

• Consistent with other boolean defaults in the codebase that use the !== "false" pattern (e.g., FIDES_TCF_GDPR_APPLIES)
• The comment // default: true is properly added for clarity
• No breaking changes to existing functionality - users can still disable by setting FIDES_PRIVACY_CENTER__SHOW_BRAND_LINK=false
• Change is well-scoped to a single line and has minimal risk

Confidence Score: 5/5

• This PR is safe to merge with minimal risk - it's a simple, well-contained boolean default change.
• The change is extremely straightforward: a single-line boolean logic inversion that changes a default value. The implementation follows existing patterns in the codebase (matching FIDES_TCF_GDPR_APPLIES which uses the same !== "false" pattern). The change is backwards compatible since users can still explicitly disable the feature. No security, performance, or architectural concerns.
• No files require special attention

Important Files Changed

File Analysis

Filename	Score	Overview
clients/privacy-center/app/server-utils/loadEnvironmentVariables.ts	5/5	Changed SHOW_BRAND_LINK default from false to true by inverting boolean check logic. Clean implementation.

[greptile-apps]

_{No files reviewed, no comments}

_{Edit Code Review Agent Settings | Greptile}

[lucanovera]

Works as expected, showing the brand is the default but you can still turn it off. Approved!