IAB Europe Press Release: IAB Europe presents industry consent mechanism for meeting challenges under the GDPR and calls for broad industry engagement on further development and roll-out

London, 28 November 2017 – IAB Europe today presented a new technical standard to support the digital advertising ecosystem in meeting requirements relating to user consent under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will enter into application in May 2018. The announcement was made at the EDAA Summit 2017 which brought together 200 participants including advertisers, agencies, ad tech, and media in London. 

The technical mechanism is designed to enable websites, advertisers and their ad technology partners to make more robust disclosures, as well as obtain, record and update consumers’ consent for their personal data to be processed in line with the GDPR. Moreover, the mechanism enables transmission of user consent choices to the supply chain, increasing accountability in the advertising ecosystem by enabling the creation of consent records and an audit trail.

Key features include:

• Works on mobile devices and desktop devices alike.
• Enables dynamic disclosure by first parties of third-party advertising partners and the purposes for which they collect and process data.
• Allows obtaining “global” or “service-specific” affirmative consent, as well as updating consent choices and withdrawing consent. EndFragment
• Enables the transmission of user consent choices to third-party advertising partners.
• Increases accountability in the advertising ecosystem by enabling the creation of consent records and an audit trail.
• Can be deployed before the date of application of the GDPR. 

Companies relying on the future mechanism will have to adhere to principles and criteria that will be developed in consultation with brands, agencies, websites, publishers and tech companies. These principles will contribute to greater mutual reassurance and trust between all ecosystem participants. 

IAB Europe is inviting broader industry engagement over the coming months with a view to building cross-industry consensus and commitment to the standard, the principles around its use, its implementation, and the governance underpinning the tool.

Commenting on the news, Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO, said, “Advertising is a critical revenue stream for online services of all shapes and sizes, be they news publishers, mobile apps and other online media. It is an important step that affected players have come together to develop a robust response to the new legislation.”

 Companies who wish to stay informed can register their interest at www.advertisingconsent.eu. 

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For Media queries, please contact:

• Townsend Feehan, CEO IAB Europe –  feehan@iabeurope.eu +32 478 27 50 74
• Matthias Matthiesen, Senior Manager, Privacy & Public Policy, IAB Europe – matthiesen@iabeurope.eu +32 496 70 92 94