Blog Series: “I’m a CMP. Am I doing it right?” #1 CMP Registration and CMP IDs – IAB Europe’s new blog series to help CMPs / Part 2
CMPs must register with IAB Europe and use their assigned ID
Last week, IAB Europe communicated to Vendors and CMPs registered for participation in the TCF a reminder that the Framework’s Policies requires that all CMPs register with IAB Europe, and that Vendors only work with CMPs in compliance with the Policies. The communication alerted TCF participants to the fact that any signals not associated with a valid CMP ID should be considered invalid for purposes of the TCF. This means that Publishers who operate or use CMPs that have not registered their CMP with IAB Europe, or have failed to tag their consent strings with their assigned CMP ID, will very likely see a change in Vendor behavior moving forward.
The requirement that CMPs register with IAB Europe is necessary because of CMPs’ importance in the TCF as the entity that provides transparency to users about how their data is processed and request users’ consent to data processing. Vendors rely on the signals created by CMPs to know whether information has been disclosed to users and whether users have given their consent to processing. These signals are only reliable when generated by CMPs in accordance with the technical specifications and Policies of the Framework, including UI/UX requirements. As originators of consent strings, CMPs must be clearly identified by their CMP IDs to enable Vendors reading consent strings to trace their origins. The CMP ID is only assigned to a CMP once registration is completed and approved by IAB Europe.
When CMPs register with IAB Europe, they contractually agree to adhere to the technical specification and Policies of the Framework, which allows IAB Europe to ensure and support CMP adherence to the Policies.
Without the Framework and its standardising function there is no scalable way of passing consent strings and other information in a reliable and interoperable way. Without registration, participation by CMPs in the Framework is not possible and CMPs cannot send TCF-compliant consent signals.
CMPs are therefore strongly urged to ensure that (1) they have completed registration with IAB Europe using the registration portal for CMPs; (2) they comply with the TCF’s technical specification and Policies; and (3) consent strings they generate include the CMP ID that has been assigned to them by IAB Europe. IAB Europe maintains a list of CMPs and their assigned CMP IDs, which can be consulted to determine which CMPs are registered and what their CMP ID is.
