EXADS is proud to announce that it is now a fully approved vendor for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) v2.0. The IAB runs TCF – a collaborative solution for businesses conducting targeted advertising in compliance with GDPR. The purpose of TCF v2.0 is to standardize how businesses (Publishers, Ad tech vendors, and Agencies) – can continue running advertising in a way that is compliant with GDPR.

Adhering to the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v2.0 is crucial for Ad Servers, Publishers and other Ad Tech Vendors who are looking to be fully compliant with GDPR, as well as keeping up to date with evolving guidance and legislation. The framework provides guidelines for Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) to inform website visitors as to the purposes for which data is being collected, how it will be used and how visitors can give or withhold their consent.

EXADS has implemented this framework to fully support TCF v2.0 approved Ad Serving clients and their Publishers.

What are the legal bases for data usage under TCF v2.0?

There are 2 legal bases for which vendors can process data under TCF v2.0. These are:

• Consent -  The data to be stored and processed requires a consent from the data owner.
• Legitimate Interest - Legitimate interest is based on an overriding benefit of using personal data without obtaining consent. For example to ensure fraud prevention and provide flexibility for the vendors to operate in different markets under different legal bases

What purposes are defined with TCF v2.0 for the processing of user data?

Data can be gathered and processed by vendors for the following purposes as laid out in TCF v2.0, in line with the above legal bases and based on the end user's consent. Essentially to allow the Ad Serving platform to:

• Store and/or access information on a device.
• Select basic ads.
• Create a personalized ad profile.
• Select personalized ads.
• Create a personalized content profile.
• Select personalized content.
• Measure ad performance.
• Measure content performance.
• Apply market research to generate audience insights.
• Develop and improve products.

There are also some “special purposes” for which data may be collected and to:

• Ensure security, prevent fraud, and debug.
• Technically deliver ads or content.

To learn more about these purposes you can read more at the IAB Europe’s website.

What does this mean for Ad Servers?

If you are a TCF v2.0 approved vendor, when you serve ads using our Ad Server, you know that you are doing so within the remit of this framework. Where user information can be collected for the purpose of serving ads, analytics, or delivering personalized ads, you know that any Publisher integrated with an IAB TCF v2.0 approved CMP has captured the relevant consent from their end user to serve those ads via our Ad Server accordingly.

If you haven’t already, you can register to become a TCF v2.0 Approved Vendor here.

EXADS Ad Server clients can then provide their TCF Vendor ID to their EXADS representative for enablement. Once enabled TCF registered CMPs will be able to communicate the relevant consents required for their Publishers’ websites.

What does this mean for Publishers?

Should a Publisher be integrated with a CMP that is IAB TCF v2.0 compliant, and as long as your Ad Server has been enabled for the TCF v2.0 framework, our platform will work out of the box and provide transparency on all the relevant consent needed from the end user to display ads. 

To find out whether a third-party CMP provider is TCF v2.0 compliant or not, you can look into the CMP list provided by IAB Europe.

Benefits of TCF v2.0 for Ad Servers & Publishers

• Ability to fully comply with GDPR laws.
• Transparency for Publishers and their end users on what cookies are used by their Ad Server for the purposes of ad serving and analytics.
• Better collaboration with data protection bodies and vendors.
• Facilitates integration with TCF v2.0 Approved Consent Management Platforms for Publishers.