New York, NY September 29, 2023 — Continuing its efforts to promote consumer privacy and comply with new state privacy laws, IAB Privacy (IAB) has established a voluntary Accountability Program as part of its Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA) compliance framework. Through the Accountability Program, MSPA Signatories have an opportunity to earn an ‘MSPA Certified’ seal after demonstrating how they comply with the requirements of the MSPA. The ‘MSPA Certified’ seal provides a level of assurance to other participants in the MSPA compliance framework – as well as other compliance stakeholders, such as regulators – that an MSPA signatory is performing the MSPA’s contractual requirements.

“The MSPA is an industry-level contractual vehicle that provides a common set of privacy terms that meets the requirements of all of the state privacy laws,” said Michael Hahn, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “The Accountability Program provides stakeholders with a higher-level assurance that an MSPA signatory complies with its contractual representations to comply with the MSPA’s common set of privacy terms. Those earning the MSPA Certified seal will not only benefit from being acknowledged as putting privacy first but can also tout to their partners that their participation helps meet partner diligence obligations mandated under applicable law.”

To receive this certification, MSPA Signatories that choose to participate must submit to a compliance assessment that will be conducted by an Authorized Assessor designated by IAB.  The assessment includes a questionnaire and interview procedures that will evaluate a company’s MSPA compliance, including:

• How end users are provided with transparency and choice mechanisms consistent with MSPA framework requirements
• How personal information processed through MSPA Covered Transactions is limited to MSPA Signatories and Certified Partners only
• How an applicant processes personal information in connection with Covered Transactions consistent with the MSPA framework’s applicable use limitations
• How an applicant has implemented technology that processes Global Privacy Platform (GPP) signals in a way that complies with MSPA framework requirements and the integrity of GPP signals processed and shared through Covered Transactions

The NAI is the first Authorized Assessor under the Accountability Program. Additional Authorized Assessors will join the program in the coming months and when multiple Authorized Assessors are available, applicants to the Accountability Program will be able to choose which amongst them will review their application.

“The MSPA is an important tool in helping members of the digital advertising community comply with state privacy laws, and the Accountability Program is a critical tool to promote accountability and compliance,” said Leigh Freund, CEO, NAI. “We are pleased to be designated as the first Authorized Assessor for the MSPA Accountability Program and working alongside IAB Privacy to help more MSPA Signatories receive their MSPA Certified seal.”

The MSPA Accountability Program is currently available only to ad tech companies who have signed the MSPA (known as “Downstream Participants” in the MSPA). If those companies are interested in becoming ‘MSPA Certified’ they must complete an application and submit it to info@iabprivacy.com, and then submit to a voluntary assessment of their application by an Authorized Assessor.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

Media Contacts
Michael Vaughan / Brittany Tibaldi
813-210-1706 / 347-487-6794
mvaughan@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com

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New York, NY April 3, 2023 — IAB Tech Lab and IAB’s Legal Affairs Council announced today the launch of the Privacy Implementation & Accountability Task Force (PIAT). PIAT aims to address privacy implementation and accountability challenges faced by the digital advertising industry by bringing together leading privacy technology vendors, media companies, advertisers, and the supporting ad tech ecosystem.

“PIAT is a joint effort of IAB Tech Lab and IAB Legal Affairs Council, bringing together cross-functional expertise to solve privacy challenges that are increasingly intertwined,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “We believe that through PIAT, we can foster a new generation of privacy technology that can be leveraged to meet the new diligence and accountability requirements under state privacy laws.”

PIAT will provide a forum for the digital advertising industry to come together, create shared understandings and define best practices in privacy implementation, as well as encourage innovation in privacy tech development. Its mission is to drive consensus on privacy implementation and accountability and to solve some of the most difficult privacy challenges embedded in industry technology. Doing so will lead to better consumer privacy protection as required under applicable law.

PIAT’s working group will explore an array of privacy challenges, including the need for a common privacy taxonomy; define the limits of current privacy tech to meet new accountability standards and facilitate and encourage the market to develop the next generation of privacy tech; address data disclosures that occur in server to server transfers, as well as in the ad creative; and establish privacy implementation best practices such as in data discovery, mapping, developing low-friction user interfaces, and more.

“We recognize that the diverse range of privacy vendors and their offerings offer substantial benefits to the marketplace. However, this diversity also presents significant challenges, such as inconsistent privacy approaches and communication difficulties across parties that utilize different technologies,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “As new privacy laws and regulations come into effect, the digital advertising industry will be expected to meet higher standards of accountability for privacy compliance. PIAT aims to be a key player in addressing these challenges and ensuring more reliable consumer privacy experiences and accountability in the digital ad ecosystem.”

For more information about PIAT and how to participate in the working group, visit https://bit.ly/joinPIAT.

About IAB Technology Laboratory

Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability including the Global Privacy Platform. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

About the IAB Legal Affairs Council

The Legal Affairs Council is a forum for legal professionals of IAB General Member companies to identify legal issues in the interactive advertising community, develop or recommend solutions and help improve the legal interaction amongst IAB Member participants, including the role of the in-house counsel. The Council focuses on advancing the efficacy of contractual matters involved in the interactive advertising community, including the IAB/AAAAs Standard Terms and Conditions for interactive media buys, and will lead best practice development or stakeholder education pertaining to legal issues in the interactive advertising community as required.

Media Contacts
Michael Vaughan / Brittany Tibaldi
813-210-1706 / 347-487-6794
mvaughan@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post IAB Tech Lab and IAB Legal Affairs Council Announce New Privacy Implementation & Accountability Task Force to Address Industry Challenges appeared first on IAB.

Publishers, Platforms, Agencies, and Brands Will Set the Course for 2024, Tackling the Most Pressing Issues in Digital Marketing including: AI, Commerce, Privacy, Streaming, and More

Confirmed Speakers Include Bob Bakish, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tariq Hassan, and Aaron Sorkin with More to Come 

NEW YORK, October 4, 2023 – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the digital media and marketing trade association, today unveiled details of its Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM), to be held on January 28-30 at the JW Marriott in Marco Island, Florida. As the central thought leadership event for IAB, ALM aims to advance the digital media and marketing industry and set the agenda for the year ahead.

The theme of the event, “It Starts Here”, challenges industry leaders from agencies, publishers, platforms, and brands to strategize, and adapt to ever-changing trends such as generative AI, commerce, privacy, a streaming-first future, responsible media, attention and creativity, and more.

“ALM is inspiration, education, discussion, debate, and where business happens. Attendees come to immerse themselves in the digital challenges and opportunities that will shape our world in the coming years. This year, we have a lot to tackle, from the long-awaited deprecation of third-party cookies to building a vibrant and responsible digital ecosystem. At the end of the day, things get done at ALM. Agendas are set, and we move forward together,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB.

Confirmed speakers this far include:

• Bob Bakish, President, Paramount Global​
• Senator Marsha Blackburn​
• Jon Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Comscore
• Stephanie Dobbs Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)​
• Victoria Garrick Brown, TED Talk speaker, mental health advocate, podcast host, and former Division I athlete
• Tariq Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s​
• Terence Kawaja, CEO & Founder, LUMA Partners​
• Karthik Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Nielsen
• Jenna Lebel, Chief Marketing Officer, Liberty Mutual​
• Aaron Sorkin, Award-Winning Writer/Producer​
• Josh Stinchcomb, Global Chief Revenue Officer, Wall Street Journal | Barron’s Group

*Please check the ALM website at iab.com/alm for the most up-to-date list of speakers.

Cohen continued, “ALM has expanded beyond its historical composition to now represent the full digital ecosystem. We expect more buy-side constituents than ever including leadership from brands and agencies to complement the impressive gathering of publisher, platform, and ad tech executives.”

ALM is where the advertising industry first tackled the biggest trends and new topics such as the demise of the cookie, growth opportunities around direct-to-consumer, eliminating fraud in the digital ecosystem, the value of responsible journalism, government regulation in the data economy, and making mobile work for advertisers and publishers.

For more information, please visit – https://www.iab.com/events/alm-2024/. Agenda and additional list of speakers to be announced soon.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB Announces its Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM 2024), Bringing Industry Leaders to Set the Stage for the Year Ahead appeared first on IAB.

New York, NY April 3, 2023 — IAB Tech Lab and IAB’s Legal Affairs Council announced today the launch of the Privacy Implementation & Accountability Task Force (PIAT). PIAT aims to address privacy implementation and accountability challenges faced by the digital advertising industry by bringing together leading privacy technology vendors, media companies, advertisers, and the supporting ad tech ecosystem.

“PIAT is a joint effort of IAB Tech Lab and IAB Legal Affairs Council, bringing together cross-functional expertise to solve privacy challenges that are increasingly intertwined,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “We believe that through PIAT, we can foster a new generation of privacy technology that can be leveraged to meet the new diligence and accountability requirements under state privacy laws.”

PIAT will provide a forum for the digital advertising industry to come together, create shared understandings and define best practices in privacy implementation, as well as encourage innovation in privacy tech development. Its mission is to drive consensus on privacy implementation and accountability and to solve some of the most difficult privacy challenges embedded in industry technology. Doing so will lead to better consumer privacy protection as required under applicable law.

PIAT’s working group will explore an array of privacy challenges, including the need for a common privacy taxonomy; define the limits of current privacy tech to meet new accountability standards and facilitate and encourage the market to develop the next generation of privacy tech; address data disclosures that occur in server to server transfers, as well as in the ad creative; and establish privacy implementation best practices such as in data discovery, mapping, developing low-friction user interfaces, and more.

“We recognize that the diverse range of privacy vendors and their offerings offer substantial benefits to the marketplace. However, this diversity also presents significant challenges, such as inconsistent privacy approaches and communication difficulties across parties that utilize different technologies,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “As new privacy laws and regulations come into effect, the digital advertising industry will be expected to meet higher standards of accountability for privacy compliance. PIAT aims to be a key player in addressing these challenges and ensuring more reliable consumer privacy experiences and accountability in the digital ad ecosystem.”

For more information about PIAT and how to participate in the working group, visit https://bit.ly/joinPIAT.

About IAB Technology Laboratory

Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability including the Global Privacy Platform. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

About the IAB Legal Affairs Council

The Legal Affairs Council is a forum for legal professionals of IAB General Member companies to identify legal issues in the interactive advertising community, develop or recommend solutions and help improve the legal interaction amongst IAB Member participants, including the role of the in-house counsel. The Council focuses on advancing the efficacy of contractual matters involved in the interactive advertising community, including the IAB/AAAAs Standard Terms and Conditions for interactive media buys, and will lead best practice development or stakeholder education pertaining to legal issues in the interactive advertising community as required.

Media Contacts
Michael Vaughan / Brittany Tibaldi
813-210-1706 / 347-487-6794
mvaughan@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post IAB Tech Lab and IAB Legal Affairs Council Announce New Privacy Implementation & Accountability Task Force to Address Industry Challenges appeared first on IAB.

NEW YORK – March 15, 2023 – After more than a decade, the Standard Terms & Conditions for internet advertising, first developed in May 2001, updated in 2010 and 2018, will be significantly overhauled.

Launching in April 2023, the leading industry trade bodies will create a joint Task Force to include all stakeholders including advertising agencies, marketers, publishers, and ad tech companies.

“The industry has a legacy of collaboration to ensure that the buy side and sell side align on best practices and standards for an effective digital advertising ecosystem. While there have been updates, it’s time to revisit the approach and ensure we collectively address evolving needs in the marketplace,” said Marla Kaplowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, 4A’s.

“While the previous work in this area remains the industry standard over a decade later, simply too much has changed for us to not revisit,” said David Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, IAB. “Having worked on previous iterations, I know the road ahead will not be easy, but it is important work that has to be done. We look forward to collaborating across the ecosystem and developing a contractual framework that ensures the vital infrastructure we need to streamline the digital advertising buying process.”

“The scale and complexity of today’s digital media transactions requires an updated foundation of contractual terms and conditions that underpin this large marketplace. We are very supportive of collaboratively revisiting digital terms and conditions to address the needs of today and tomorrow and look forward to participating in the endeavor,” added Bob Liodice, Chief Executive Officer, ANA.

If interested in joining the Terms & Conditions Task Force, please submit your information here.

About 4A’s
The 4A’s was established in 1917 to promote, advance, and defend the interests of our member agencies, employees and the advertising and marketing industries overall. We empower our members to drive commerce, spark connections, and shape culture through infinite creativity. With a focus on advocacy, talent and the value of creativity and technology to drive business growth and cultural change, the organization serves 600+ member agencies across 1,200 offices, which help direct more than 85% of total U.S. advertising spend. The 4A’s includes the 4A’s Benefits division, which insures more than 160,000 employees; the government relations team, who advocate for policies to support the industry; and the 4A’s Foundation, which advocates for and connects multicultural talent to the marketing industry by fostering a culture of curiosity, creativity and craft to fuel a more equitable future for the industry.

About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

About ANA
The ANA’s (Association of National Advertisers) mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, brands and businesses, the industry, and humanity. The ANA serves the marketing needs of 20,000 brands by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed by the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA’s membership consists of U.S. and international companies, including client-side marketers, nonprofits, fundraisers, and marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). The ANA creates Marketing Growth Champions by serving, educating, and advocating for more than 50,000 industry members that collectively invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.

IAB Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com  

4A’s Media Contact
Ann Rubin
EVP, Marketing, Communications and Events
914-424-0269
arubin@4As.org 

ANA’s Media Contact
John Wolfe
Director of Communications
914-659-8663
jwolfe@ana.net 

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Returning Bigger and Better, IAB PlayFronts will be a Two-Day Event Addressing the Growing Gaming Industry

New York, December 7, 2022 – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the digital media and marketing trade association, today announced its lineup of events for the first half of 2023. Known for gathering the entire advertising and marketing ecosystem together, IAB’s 2023 events will help agencies, publishers, platforms, ad tech companies, and brands understand the evolving audience and market trends, and provide a game plan for the future of the industry. This year’s event slate promises to bring the biggest names in media, marketing, policy, and culture to provide insights and thought leadership.

“It feels like each year, the industry faces unprecedented change, new consumer expectations, and a shifting economic picture. Next year is no different, and we have developed an event series that will equip buyers, sellers, and the entire digital ecosystem with the tools, insights, and inspiration to thrive in this new reality. It’s an incredibly interesting time in our industry, and we are eager to continue our collective growth trajectory,” said David Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, IAB.

IAB ALM 2023: IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM) occurring January 22-24, 2023 in Marco Island, Florida will stimulate important discussions and address alignment, consensus, action, and follow-through from all stakeholders. ALM is where the digital industry first debated hot topics such as the rise of mobile video, DTC brands, the demise of the cookie, eliminating fraud in the digital ecosystem, fake news, digital storytelling, government regulation in the data economy, and making mobile work for advertisers and publishers. 2023 is no different as this year’s theme “It Starts Here” explores a vision for the industry, uncovered opportunities, paths forward, new connections, and big ideas.

“This year we have reached an inflection point with significant regulatory changes, challenges around consumer privacy, data use, and a host of new ad-supported opportunities including the explosion of retail media networks and the evolving metaverse. What this ever growing ecosystem tells us is that we must decide what we want the industry to become before it is decided for us. This is the time for proactivity and action, and that is exactly what we will be addressing at ALM 2023,” added Cohen.

Speakers already confirmed for ALM include:

• Matthew Ball, Pioneering Tech Authority, Venture Capitalist, and Bestselling Author, The Metaverse
• Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer, Policy, Meta
• Jeremi Gorman, President, Worldwide Advertising, Netflix
• Michael Kassan, Founder and CEO, MediaLink
• Greg Lyons, Chief Marketing Officer, Pepsi
• Alex Rodriguez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, A-Rod Corp
• Stephanie Ruhle, Host, 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle and Senior Business Analyst, NBC News
• Fiji Simo, Chief Executive Officer, Instacart
• Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, Co-founders and Co-Chief Executive Officer’s, TheSkimm

IAB PlayFronts: Due to the success of the inaugural IAB PlayFronts, the unique buyer marketplace is returning to help advertisers navigate the gaming landscape. IAB’s PlayFronts will be held in-person on March 8-9 in New York City. Leading members of this exciting ecosystem, from game publishers to streaming platforms and ad tech partners will define the gaming landscape, elevate the effectiveness of gaming, and demonstrate creative opportunities for brands.

IAB Public Policy & Legal Summit 2023: With pending regulations, including five state privacy laws taking effect next year, advertisers and publishers need to be ready for all the legal, policy, and technical challenges impacting businesses. IAB’s annual Public Policy & Legal Summit will take place on April 3, 2023, bringing together leaders in advertising, media, technology, and the government to address how to continue building a sustainable consumer-centric media and marketing ecosystem. This event will be held in-person – expanding IAB’s presence in Washington DC.

IAB NewFronts and IAB Podcast Upfront: IAB NewFronts is a one-stop-shop for media buyers eager to get a first look at the latest digital content taking place from May 1-4, 2023 in New York. In addition to the live events taking place on stages around NYC, for the first time, IAB will have its own stage on Wednesday May 3rd to host a selection of presenting companies. Committed to the creation of valuable partnerships between brands and native digital content, this event hosts some of the biggest names in media and entertainment. Over four days, attendees will have discussions about issues critical to the industry, in person and live streamed to a virtual audience.

Then on May 11, IAB Podcast Upfront will showcase leading voices in podcasting, demonstrating the power of audio to connect brands to consumers. This one-day event returns in-person and virtually, designed for brands, media buyers, and agencies eager to preview what’s next in the ever-expanding podcasting space.

More information and updates regarding IAB’s events can be found at: www.iab.com/events.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB Unveils Reimagined Events Schedule for First Half of 2023 appeared first on IAB.

Tech Lab’s US State Privacy Signals Introduced as Part of the Global Privacy Platform to Support State-Level Consent Signaling

New York – October 13, 2022 – As part of a continued effort to ensure that digital advertising participants keep consumer privacy at the forefront and comply with regulations, IAB and IAB Tech Lab have come together to update their privacy protocols and industry-level agreements to support marketers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech companies.

IAB Privacy’s Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA) provides an updated contractual framework to ensure privacy compliance across five new state privacy laws. It works in conjunction with IAB Tech Lab’s US State Signals initiative, which was released today as part of the Global Privacy Platform (GPP). The MSPA and US State Signals specifications are available for public comment until October 27.

The MSPA is an evolution of the Limited Service Provider Agreement (LSPA) put in place in 2020 to ensure compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The updated MSPA helps ensure compliance with CCPA, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA, which goes into effect January 2023) and supports privacy legislation going into effect in 2023, including the Colorado Privacy Act (CoPA), Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CDPA), Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), and Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA).

This MSPA agreement, in combination with IAB Tech Lab’s Global Privacy Platform (GPP), including its state level signaling, will help member companies address the increasingly complex challenges of global privacy and manage the different consent signals from multiple jurisdictions.

The MSPA includes provisions covering:

• “Gap transactions,” such that it applies contractual terms for those “sales” of personal information where there is ordinarily no contract in place in the digital advertising distribution chain
• Measurement and frequency capping, including when undertaking such activities using service providers
• Contextual advertising and advertising on a publisher’s first party segments
• A “national” approach option to state privacy compliance that is set at the highest common denominator across the new state with privacy laws
• Use of the IAB Tech Lab’s technical specification for US State Signals in the GPP

“The patchwork of state regulations creates an increasingly complicated compliance landscape for the digital advertising industry,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “The IAB Legal Affairs Council has been focused on meeting this challenge for the past year, and we believe the MSPA – the product of collaboration from stakeholders across the industry – is a crucial tool to solve this challenge.”

Hahn further explains that “We have found a way to solve for key advertising use cases that put consumers first, hews closely to the letter of the law, and, like the IAB Limited Service Provider Agreement, will be leveraged by small and large participants alike to meet their obligations.”

IAB’s MSPA and IAB Tech Lab’s US State Signals initiatives help the digital advertising industry to comply with varying privacy regulations across the U.S. The announcements of these initiatives follow the IAB Tech Lab’s recent launch of the GPP, which is a protocol designed to enable companies to manage user consent signals and privacy to be managed at a global scale.

“IAB Tech Lab’s Global Privacy Platform provides the technology toolkit the industry needs so publishers and advertisers can work with their vendors to manage privacy and consent management compliance on a global scale. The GPP also helps to mitigate risk by increasing consumer transparency and control signals that publishers and advertisers receive,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “We believe adopting both the Multi-State Privacy Agreement and the Global Privacy Platform will be a huge step forward for the industry. Privacy matters and so does compliance. We need to get both right.”

To review the proposed standards and provide feedback, please go to www.iabprivacy.com/mspa.html for the MSPA and send your comments to info@iabprivacy.com; and go to iabtechlab.com/us-state-signals for comments on the US State Signals.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

About IAB Technology Laboratory

Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

IAB and IAB Tech Lab Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB and IAB Tech Lab Come Together to Help Companies Comply With New Privacy Laws and Place Consumer Privacy at the Forefront appeared first on IAB.

What Happened?

On February 2, 2022, the Belgian data protection authority (the “APD”) released a decision following its investigation of IAB Europe’s administration of the Transparency and Consent Framework (“TCF”).  The TCF is a set of technical standards and policies designed to help all parties in the digital advertising chain comply with the EU’S GDPR and ePrivacy Directive when processing personal data (or other information stored on a user’s device, such as cookies). The TCF works by encoding and signaling users’ privacy preferences in transparency and consent strings (“TC Strings”).

The APD’s decision asserts that for GDPR purposes, TC Strings are personal data and that IAB Europe is a co-controller of TC Strings (along with other entities that process TC Strings). Further, the decision orders IAB Europe to take certain steps to bring its processing of any personal data in TC Strings into compliance with the GDPR.

The IAB joins IAB Europe in disagreeing with this conclusion.

What does the APD’s decision order the IAB Europe to do?

The APD’s decision orders IAB Europe to take the following actions:

• Establish its own legal basis for processing TC Strings insofar as it is a controller of personal data in connection with TC Strings.
• Delete TC Strings with globally-scoped consents from servers IAB Europe controls (the current version of the TCF no longer supports globally-scoped consents, in any case).
• Make updates to the TCF, including:
  • Improving the technical and organizational measures used to ensure the integrity of TC Strings.
  • Implementing audit procedures for TCF participants to evaluate their GDPR compliance.
  • Removing legitimate interest as an available legal basis under the TCF.
  • Setting new standards for and increasing the uniformity of the user interfaces presented by participating consent management platforms (CMPs).
• Take procedural steps the GDPR requires of controllers of personal data, including updating records of processing activities, carrying out a data protection impact assessment, and appointing a Data Protection Officer.
• Pay an administrative fine.

The order provides IAB Europe with two months to develop an action plan for complying with the decision that can then be executed within a six-month time frame. IAB Europe is not prohibited from operating the TCF during this interim period.

What is the scope of the remedial actions ordered by the APD?

IAB Europe was the subject of the APD’s investigation, and the GDPR compliance issues identified by the APD are focused on the IAB Europe’s role as the Managing Organization of the TCF. Accordingly, the orders issued in the APD’s decision are limited to the IAB Europe in its role as the TCF’s Managing Organization.

Further, the decision clearly distinguishes its findings regarding the IAB Europe’s role in managing the TCF and TC Strings from other processing of personal data that may occur through OpenRTB advertising transactions. The Chairman of the APD’s litigation chamber, Hielke Hijmans, also emphasized that the decision is limited to the TCF, “not the whole real time bidding system[.]”

Every controller of personal data under the GDPR is responsible for establishing its own legal basis for processing personal data, but the APD’s decision does not order specific actions regarding any entity other than IAB Europe. For example, the decision states explicitly that the IAB Tech Lab merely acts as a provider of the OpenRTB system and is not a data controller for any personal data processed through OpenRTB.

How is the IAB Europe responding to the decision?

IAB Europe released a statement rejecting the APD’s findings, and have published a “FAQ” document available for download here. Specifically, IAB Europe disagrees with the conclusion that it is a controller of any personal data in TC Strings as a consequence of its administration of the TCF. IAB Europe is currently appealing the ruling.

In parallel with its efforts to challenge the APD’s novel conclusion that IAB Europe is a “controller” of TC Strings, IAB Europe will convene its TCF working group and develop an action plan for responding to the APD’s orders concerning updates to the TCF itself.

The IAB and The IAB Tech Lab are actively supporting IAB Europe in responding to the APD’s decision and in meeting the challenges posed by it. IAB Tech Lab is working to assist IAB Europe with incorporating new products and technical standards that will meet the new market requirements.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Kate Tumino / Brittany Tibaldi
212-896-1252 / 347-487-6794
ktumino@kcsa.com/ btibaldi@kcsa.com

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What is IAB doing?  

IAB first engaged on this issue in Florida after the above-noted press conference, educating lawmakers with a series of letters illustrating the adverse consequences of an approach that would create ineffective and confusing privacy rights for Florida consumers, and we ensured that these concerns were raised in discussions with the Speaker and the Governor. IAB further advised leading state Senators on building an alternative approach that avoided needlessly onerous data restrictions, and with the legislature expected to resume debate on this issue soon, we intend to continue our education of key lawmakers. On August 25^th, IAB will join a group of organizations, covering industries ranging from finance to retail operations to hotels and lodging, in hosting a discussion on the impact of privacy legislation on the Florida business community to guide policy leaders as they renew consideration of privacy measures in the months to come.

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