General
Transparency And Consent Framework Mobile App Spec Ready For Adoption
Today, IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe released the Transparency and Consent Framework’s Mobile In-app Specifications as a final version ready for widespread industry adoption. No significant changes were made to the specs in the process of finalization. Tech Lab’s GDPR Mobile Subgroup reviewed the specifications and public comments, considering their own implementation strategies in applying the Framework for in-app.
Early adopters of the mobile specs should be sure that their implementation complies with the final mobile in-app specifications and adheres to the Framework policies.
Released for public comment at the same time earlier this quarter, pubvendors.json will also be finalized in the coming weeks. Pubvendors.json provides granular controls to publishers, allowing them to whitelist vendors, addressing publisher liability concerns, and the ability for publishers to express if they support a vendor using Legitimate Interest as a legal basis. For mobile app inventory use of pubvendors.json, please review the Mobile Guidance for Ads.txt out for public comment until July 6th.
The Transparency and Consent Framework has over 350 registered vendors on the Global Vendor List, over 100 registered CMPs (Consent Management Providers), and potentially tens of thousands of publishers. This rapid adoption will be strengthened with the addition of finalized mobile in-app specifications.
General questions on the Framework can be sent to feedback@staging.advertisingconsent.eu, and technical questions can be sent to transparencyframework@iabtechlab.com
To join the Transparency & Consent Framework, register at: http://register.consensu.org/
IAB Tech Lab & IAB Europe Release Pubvendors.Json And Mobile In-App Specifications To Support Transparency & Consent Framework
Available for 30-Day Public Comment, New Specs Will Enable Seamless Communication Among Publishers, Buyers, and Vendors on Approved Interactions and GDPR Settings & Provide Mobile In-App Support
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM & NEW YORK, NY (May 2, 2018) – On the heels of releasing the final technical specifications for the Transparency and Consent Framework last week to address user choice and other aspects of compliance with the notice, transparency, and choice requirements set forth in the GDPR (European General Data Protection Regulation), IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe are introducing an additional supporting tech spec—pubvendors.json (a publisher’s list of vendors)—and the much awaited mobile in-app support for the Framework is also being released for public comment. Both tech specs build upon initial adoption of the Framework, with over 120 vendors registered on the Global Vendor List.
The pubvendors.json tech spec is intended to:
- Provide a standard for publishers to publicly declare the vendors that they work with, and their respective data rights/configuration
- Allow vendors to verify publishers’ GDPR settings and verify/audit Consent Management Provider (CMP) consent strings
- Establish a standard way for publishers to white-list vendors
- Enable publishers to limit purposes and features (consistent with the Framework) on a per-vendor basis
Mobile in-app enables app developers to access and honor the Framework’s consent and legitimate interest mechanisms as a supporting standard to assist with GDPR compliance. CMP API endpoints and app developer local storage are specified, which enables the mechanism of collecting and propagating consent, so third-party vendors can operate in respect of users’ and publishers’ choices. App developers continue to have flexibility in defining user experience for exposing purposes and controls, as per the Framework.
“The feedback from publishers since we launched the public consultation on the first version of the specs for the Transparency and Consent Framework included a couple of strong messages,” noted Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe. “First, publishers wanted even more control with respect to data processing purposes, notably to be able to authorise different partners to leverage different purposes. Second, they wanted more control over which legal bases their partners could adduce. The pubvendors.json solution is a rapid response to accommodate these requirements.”
“These additional tech specs are a direct reflection of our commitment to the flexibility and adaptability of the Transparency and Consent Framework, to ensure that it meets the needs of publishers and other parties in the supply chain,” said Dennis Buchheim, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “The continued dominance of apps in mobile environments made supporting tech specs on that front particularly vital, and we’re pleased that our working group moved quickly to close that gap.”
After public comment concludes on June 1, 2018, IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe participants will evaluate and incorporate feedback received and release a final version of each of these specifications. Companies with urgent transparency goals are invited to adopt the pubvendors.json technology as a beta implementation, even before the specifications are finalized.
To review the proposed pubvendors.json technology specification and the mobile in-app specification, please visit here. Technical feedback can be sent to transparencyframework@iabtechlab.com and general feedback can be sent to feedback@staging.advertisingconsent.eu.
IAB Europe And IAB Tech Lab Release Cross-Industry Transparency & Consent Framework For Adoption
Brussels & New York City, April 25, 2018 — IAB Europe and IAB Technology Laboratory today released the market-ready technical specifications for the initial iteration of the Transparency & Consent Framework (“Framework”) following a 30-day public consultation in March and April 2018.
The official release version of the standard reflects extensive feedback from publishers, agencies, and ad tech companies collected during an open consultation period. As with all standards, it is expected that this standard will be iterated with new features and attributes in the future.
The Framework allows users to have full authority over their data
The Framework is a cross-industry standard that supports online services and their partners in their efforts to provide transparency and choice mechanisms for their users. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), users can now be made aware of not only online services’ use of their users’ personal data but also use of that data by third parties’ assisting online services in showing advertisements to their users and measuring the effectiveness of those advertisements. The Framework is particularly relevant for “first parties” (publishers) and other suppliers of online services, who partner with “third parties” (vendors) to enable those third parties to process user data on one of the legal bases laid down by the Regulation (including both legitimate interests and consent, where applicable).
The GDPR will be enforced as from 25 May 2018. Fines for non-compliance with the new regulation could run as high as 4% of companies’ annual global turnover.
IAB Europe and IAB Tech Lab call for immediate and cross-industry support for, involvement in and adoption of the Framework
CEO IAB Europe, Townsend Feehan said: “GDPR will mean European users get more information about, and control over, who is processing their data. This should give them increased confidence online – that is the challenge and opportunity that the complex new EU law presents. The Transparency & Consent Framework will sit at the intersection of users, publishers and the third-party partners (vendors) that support the publishers in monetising their content, giving both users and publishers more control and transparency in the new environment.”
How does the Framework operate?
The technology is based on a JavaScript API and enables the surfacing of the selected third parties’ information, the storage of a user’s choices related to those third parties and the passing of information about approved third parties, so that parties in the online advertising ecosystem understand which parties have been approved by publishers and surfaced to and approved (or consented to, where necessary) by their users. A key piece of the Framework is a unique registry known as the Global Vendor List, which is a list of registered and approved third parties (“vendors”) that a publisher may, in connection with the processing of personal data on its digital properties, choose to allow to access information on its users’ devices or process its users’ data for specified purposes. The Framework also facilitates management of signals by Consent Management Providers (CMP) across participating organisations that meet specific and required criteria.
Robert Whelan, Chief Operating Officer at Emerse, a registered vendor said: “Emerse DSP is now enrolled in the Transparency & Consent Framework, an excellent initiative for the digital advertising industry.”
Publishers can take advantage of the Framework in the following ways:
- Publishers can use the registry to view which of their partners have applied to adhere to the Framework’s policies and for which purposes their partners are using personal data to determine which third parties they choose to work with and include as vendors in their individual user interfaces they decide to make available
- Publishers can then surface information to their users about which vendor may be allowed to lawfully collect and use the personal data of their users in connection with the sale and measurement of ad space
- Publishers and vendors can communicate with one another (“signal”) about which vendors may be allowed to access or process the personal data of publishers’ users and for which purposes
- Publishers and vendors can capture, disclose and maintain an audit trail of a user’s choice about those vendors and their data processing activities
Major European Publishers including Axel Springer and Schibsted Media Group recently endorsed the Framework:
“We believe a standardized industry framework is necessary to not only meet transparency and user choice requirements, but also to maintain a high-quality user experience for our audiences,” said Moritz Holzgraefe, Chief Operating Officer Corporate Digital Platforms at Axel Springer. “Closed or fragmented solutions don’t enable publishers to choose which technology providers they work with and don’t allow advertisers to operate effectively, which is critical to our business and to our users.”
“It is important to us to have a solution that can evolve as other publishers, advertisers, and technology providers work with regulators and end users to iterate over time,” said Ingvild Naess, Group Privacy Officer, Schibsted. “IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework is designed to be fine-tuned as best practices become clearer in the coming months and years.”
“The Framework we’ve developed establishes a way to communicate and user choices about the processing of their data for advertising and other purposes.” said Alice Lincoln, VP – Data Policy & Governance, MediaMath, who chaired the initial IAB Europe Working Group on Consent that led to the creation of the Framework. “In addition, the Frameworkprovides technical measures for publishers that help ensure their audience data is secure. We believe these two accomplishments will help the ecosystem adopt a consumer-first mindset in which data processing practices are in alignment with users’ rightful expectations of both privacy and better advertising experiences.”
The updated technical specifications for the GDPR Transparency and Consent Framework can be found HERE.
The specifications include:
- Consent Management Provider Javascript API spec v1.1
- Consent String and Global Vendor List format spec v1.1
An additional draft specification being made available for public comment within the coming week in conjunction with the release includes:
- publisher-vendors.json spec v.1.0 (draft)
This additional draft specification will provide more robust support for vendors operating on different legal bases, secondary audit trails, and more granular controls for publishers over approved purposes for each of their approved vendors.
“When GDPR is enforced across Europe, publishers and vendors need not only a solution for today, but one that can evolve based on guidance from the regulatory community, internet users and companies relying on the framework for a standardised, supporting standard,” said Dennis Buchheim, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “The team at the IAB Tech Lab has taken on technical governance of the Framework to ensure that it meets policy needs, works with other relevant standards (such as OpenRTB), and is flexible enough to continue to evolve and to support future data-privacy-related needs.”
With the GDPR enforcement date fast approaching, publishers and their advertising partners are strongly encouraged to implement the Framework immediately. For publishers that wish to enlist a third-party CMP, a regularly-updated list of fully operational CMPs is available HERE.
In addition:
- Information and resources about the Transparency & Consent Framework are available here.
- Implementation Guidelines for the Transparency & Consent Framwork are available here.
- List of the current supporters of the Framework is available here.
- Register as a vendor and/or a CMP here
- CMP Demos from Quantcast, Faktor and Didomi are available here.
- Register here for this week’s webinar on Friday 27 April at 8am PDT/ 11am EDT/ 4pm BST/ 5pm CEST.
IAB Europe Media Contacts
- Matthias Matthiesen – Phone: +32 4 96709294 – Email: matthiesen@iabeurope.eu
- Townsend Feehan – +32 4 78 27 50 74 – Email: feehan@iabeurope.eu
IAB Tech Lab Media Contact
Laura Goldberg – Phone: +1.347.683.1859 – Email: laura.goldberg@iab.com
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment, demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business practices that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand advertising to scale in Europe.
About IAB Technology Laboratory
The IAB Technology Laboratory (“Tech Lab”) is a non-profit research and development consortium that produces and provides standards, software, and services to drive growth of an effective and sustainable global digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers and ad technology firms, as well as marketers, agencies, and other companies with interests in the interactive marketing arena, IAB Tech Lab aims to enable brand and media growth via a transparent, safe, effective supply chain, simpler and more consistent measurement, and better advertising experiences for consumers, with a focus on mobile and “TV”/digital video channel enablement. The IAB Tech Lab portfolio includes the DigiTrust real-time standardized identity service designed to improve the digital experience for consumers, publishers, advertisers, and third-party platforms. Board members include AppNexus, ExtremeReach, Google, GroupM, Hearst Digital Media, Integral Ad Science, Index Exchange, LinkedIn, MediaMath, Microsoft, Moat, Pandora, PubMatic, Quantcast, Telaria, The Trade Desk, and Yahoo! Japan. Established in 2014, the IAB Tech Lab is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco and representation in Seattle and London
Transparency & Consent Framework Specification Launches Global As Industry Participation Increases
We are very pleased to announce the release of the technical specifications for IAB Europe’s Transparency & Consent Framework. This exciting cross-industry initiative will be a critical tool in helping publishers, technology vendors, agencies and advertisers meet the transparency and user choice requirements of the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which comes into effect on 25th May 2018.
The Framework will ensure that online services give consumers full visibility and control over who is allowed to process their data in connection with advertising, and for what purposes.
The official release version of this open-source standard reflects extensive feedback from publishers, advertisers, and other important stakeholders who all participated in the final working group review of the following technical specifications:
- Consent Management Provider Javascript API spec v1.1
- Consent String and Global Vendor List format spec v1.1
To support the technical specifications, there is a series of implementation guides for publishers, buyers (DSPs and agencies), CMPs and DMPs:
The technical specifications of the Framework will be maintained by an IAB Tech Lab working group. We will be working continuously with them to update the technical specifications to accommodate any changes in policy as well as feedback from the market. We look forward to hearing from you at staging.advertisingconsent.eu.
Sign up now
This release swiftly follows our recent announcement that the registration process is now open for both Vendors and Consent Management Providers (CMPs) to apply for approved status in the context of IAB Europe’s Transparency & Consent Framework. Since the announcement, we are seeing an increasing number of Vendors and CMPs registering and gaining approval. For more information about the Framework, including a link to the registration portal for vendors wishing to participate, visit staging.advertisingconsent.eu.
Join our next Webinar
On Friday 20th April, we had a very successful Webinar with a panel of CMPs demonstrating their consent solution to over 300 participants. You can watch a recording of it here. We will repeat this webinar on Friday 27 April at 8am PDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST/ 5pm CEST. If you are interested please check staging.advertisingconsent.eu for details or register here.
Vendors And Consent Management Providers Are Invited To Register To Participate In IAB Europe’s Transparency And Consent Framework
The registration process is open for Vendors and Consent Management Providers to apply for approved status in the context of IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into effect on 25 May 2018, requires a legal basis for processing the personal data of EU residents. While the GDPR offers six possible legal bases, the two that digital publishers, advertisers and those that support them typically find most relevant include consent or legitimate interest. Crucially, publishers must also provide transparency into the list of vendors or partners they decide to work with that may also process their website visitor’s personal data.
IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework has been created to offer flexibility in terms of various paths towards complying with the law, and providing a standardised means of communicating signals to different parties in real time.
The member registry of vendors and CMPs (known as the List) will facilitate adherence to the Framework policy, provide transparency into the ways companies intend to comply with GDPR requirements, and centralise participants into one well-known location. Publishers can then use the List registry to view which of their partners are a part of the Framework, and determine which vendors to include in the transparency and consent user interfaces they decide to make available on their sites.
Registration is at register.consensu.org and there are separate pages for vendors and CMPs to complete the required information.
Once companies have submitted their application and received approval by IAB Europe, they need to pay the annual fee. We will then issue vendors with an ID and publish them in the Framework while CMPs will receive an ID and sub-domain and will be listed on staging.advertisingconsent.eu.
You can find all the background information you need in the FAQ and on staging.advertisingconsent.eu. We will also hold an open webinar on Friday, 20 April 17:00 CEST/16:00BST/11:00 EDT/ 08:00 EDT) when our technology and policy experts will be on hand to answer your questions – Register for the webinar: here
IAB Europe Releases GDPR Transparency & Consent Framework For Public Comment
IAB Europe today released the draft technical specifications for its GDPR Transparency & Consent Framework (“Framework”) for public comment. First announced in November 2017, the Framework is a cross-industry effort to help publishers, technology vendors, agencies and advertisers meet the transparency and user choice requirements (including consent where necessary) of the GDPR before the regulation comes into effect on May 25 this year. The Framework is a non-commercial, open source initiative. The final version is scheduled for release mid-April, after continued consultation with publishers, advertisers, and other important industry participants.
The GDPR covers a broader scope of “personal data” than the existing EU Data Protection Directive, and companies are expecting to be more constrained in how they can access and process such data for advertising purposes. The Framework is available to companies based in Europe and around the world, and is designed to support various channels and formats, including mobile and desktop environments.
The Framework includes technical specifications that will allow companies and consumers to have greater control over, and dynamic insight into, the parties who access and process the personal data of consumers in the EU. The technical specifications will be maintained by an IAB Tech Lab working group going forward, through a collaboration between IAB Europe and IAB Tech Lab that leverages IAB Europe’s policy and legal expertise and IAB Tech Lab’s technical expertise.
IAB Europe has published the draft specifications for public comment and is working to closely collaborate with key industry stakeholders including publishers, advertisers, agencies, and their important trade organisations. Organisations wishing to meet with stakeholders involved in the framework and provide feedback may do so until April 8, 2018.
Vital information for data protection leads within companies
Data protection officers, IT leaders and other interested individuals within publishers, brands, agencies and technology vendors responsible for their organisation’s GDPR compliance can access the specifications here.
General feedback may be submitted in writing to feedback@staging.advertisingconsent.eu, and technical feedback may be submitted to transparencyframework@iabtechlab.com. Those interested have the opportunity to share further feedback and ask questions by participating in upcoming Q&A Webinars that will be scheduled during March 2018. See the webinar schedule and register here.
A Framework to ensure future growth of the global publishing industry
Advertising accounts for 81.5 percent of revenues for digital publishers (Source: IHS Markit). From May 25, publishers looking to provide a customized online experience including tailored advertising can use the Framework to allow data to be collected and processed lawfully by their partners for advertising and other purposes.
Without the Framework consumers will see less relevant online messages from brands, and brands will see less engagement from consumers. The resulting loss in advertising revenue would impact jobs within the publishing and digital advertising industries, and millions more in related sectors.
Commenting on the Framework, Colin Barlow, Global COO, GroupM said: “The GDPR will bring a number of new requirements to all participants in the digital advertising ecosystem. Such change requires a new shared industry standard, and the IAB Europe Framework offers the best solution to achieving this. GroupM has been consulting with IAB Europe and other members to ensure the framework meets our needs, and so that we can align to its requirements.”
For more information and updates on the proposed solution and its supporters, please visit the dedicated website at www.staging.advertisingconsent.eu.