What the formal launch of TCF 2.2 means for publishers and adtech vendors

15 months, countless meetings with publishers, audience measurement providers, adtech players, personalized content companies, … With TCF 2.2 launched, time to reflect on the enormous privilege I had of being involved (and prominently so) in so many stages of the development of new iterations to such an important standard for the online ecosystem.

My role was and is, as advisor of IAB Europe, to help the various stakeholders understand the positions of data protection authorities and of the industry, and to then help them give form to their ideas and find practical solutions.

The TCF working groups are made of representatives from a very diverse set of businesses, each with their own interests, commercial models, challenges and even different thoughts about where the online content and advertising world is headed. The legal traditions present are also very diverse, and the stakeholders range from the largest technology companies on the planet to smaller companies.

There were many�topics on which stakeholders initially had very different opinions – not just according to the nature of their businesses but also depending on their markets and lead supervisory authority (!). Sometimes, the outcome was not what I had expected, showing just how much the TCF is shaped and built by the companies using it.

TCF 2.2 was a tremendous work of industry-wide collaboration, and it illustrates well how a sector or industry can collectively rise up to a challenge.

The story is far from finished – the TCF litigation is currently pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union, with no date yet for our pleadings – but TCF 2.2 is already an important milestone. There will be other evolutions, too, but a big thank you already to IAB Europe for their trust and congratulations to the members of the working groups and Steering Group for what we have done so far.

For more information on the TCF v2.2, the IAB Europe website has a TCF Supporting Resources page (https://lnkd.in/eXPH8C6H) with a FAQ (a great resource in which we have tried to tackle a broad range of issues) and links to a number of recorded webinars (notably featuring yours truly). And if you have any additional questions about the legal aspects of the TCF or how you should manage your own compliance (also with other data-related legislation), you know our team at Keller and Heckman LLP has got you covered!

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