Last week, the Belgian Data Protection Authority ruled that
the IAB's cookie consent framework violated the GDPR. This
decision has tremendous potential implications on the ad tech
industry, as both publishers and advertisers must reevaluate their
legal bases for targeted advertising.
On February 2, 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (the
"Belgian DPA") ruled that Interactive Advertising Bureau
Europe's1 ("IAB Europe") Transparency and
Consent Framework ("TCF") violates multiple provisions of
the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation
(EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR"). The TCF is a cross-industry
standard that facilitates the management of users' preferences
for online personalized advertising. The TCF consists of a
registry of vendors (which digital property operators can use to
see whether the vendors they work with participate in the TCF), a
list of consent management providers, policies and terms &
conditions (underlying, for example,
