Tracking is prohibited
A Belgian appeal court has ruled that the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) used for targeted online advertising violates EU law. The ruling upholds the Belgian Data Protection Authority’s (APD) 2022 findings that the TCF is incompatible with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has been in force in the EU since 2018.
TCF, developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe, allows websites to ask users for consent to track their activity via cookies to display personalized advertising. The court found that this system does not provide the necessary transparency and consent, violating users’ privacy rights. Targeted advertising relies on RTB auctions, where user data is passed on to advertisers, which is what gave rise to the claims.
