1. Executive summary
Real-Time Bidding (RTB) is a set of technologies and practices
used in programmatic advertising. It has evolved and grown rapidly
in recent years and is underpinned by advertising technology
(adtech), allowing advertisers to compete for available digital
advertising space in milliseconds, placing billions of online
adverts on webpages and apps in the UK every day by automated
means.
Whilst RTB is only part of the online advertising ecosystem, we
decided we needed to investigate further due to its complexity and
scale, the risks posed to the rights and freedoms of individuals
and the concerns we've received.
This update report therefore clarifies the ICO's views on
adtech, specifically the use of personal data in RTB, and our
intended next steps. The findings have come from our:
