IAB Europe and the IAB Tech Lab have revamped its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). IAB Europe first released the TCF in Q1 last year to help the digital advertising industry manage their compliance obligations under the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive and was intended as an industry-wide solution for companies that want to access and process the personal data of individuals.
The groups put the TCF 2.0 version up for public comment in April. Following feedback from over 55 organisations including Axel Springer, The Guardian and The Telegraph, TCF 2.0 will continue to support the overall aim of increasing consumer transparency and choice, and management of consent and compliance to encourage industry standardisation.
The framework focuses on improving how publishers, technology vendors, agencies and advertisers communicate with users about how their data is being used, while also providing the opportunity for users to object. Under TCF 2.0, not only can consumers grant or withhold consent but they can also exercise their ‘right to object’ to data being processed. Consumers also have more control over how vendors may use certain features of data processing, like geolocation, for example.
“We are confident that the changes will increase the transparency and choice provided to users who want to continue benefiting from content and services that they would otherwise have to pay for. For agencies, industry standards are a vital instrument to ensure consistent implementation, oversight, and application of policies and technical specifications across borders,” said Tamara Daltroff, director-general of The European Association of Communication Agencies.
Meanwhile, publishers using TCF 2.0 can better control how they integrate and collaborate with their technology partners. The overhaul of the framework means publishers that have already adopted the first version must implement the new technology.
“Even though TCF 2.0 addresses some of the concerns outlined by the ICO back in June, it is clear that something must be done to overhaul the real-time bidding industry and management of data. Businesses are searching for a first-party data driven future where customer trust is central to business growth. We all know that this will take time given the level of fragmentation across the industry, but rather than shooting down progress let’s continue to co-operate and support the steps the IAB is taking,” said Ian James, CEO of SBDS Group.
Google will integrate TCF 2.0
In the wake of the announcement, Google has committed to integration with the framework by the end of March next year, which is when TCF 2.0 is expected to go fully live. However, Dennis Buchheim, EVP and general manager of the IAB Tech Lab, said that Google will integrate with the framework gradually, and at different times with different publishers. In the next few weeks, Google will aim to provide greater detail of its integration approach.