TCF 2.2 Implementation Officially Finalized

TCF 2.2

Publishers, advertisers, vendors, and content marketing platforms across Europe have implemented the latest policies defined by IAB Europe’s Transparency & Consent Framework titled TCF 2.2. This is a major step in the industry toward a more open, transparent, and safe environment for all parties involved. Let’s look at what changes TCF 2.2 brings to the table, as well as what that means for your business.

The Transparency & Consent Framework is a set of policies prescribed by IAB Europe designed to help publishers, advertisers, and platforms properly comply with the ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Framework undergoes regular revisions and updates to ensure abidance by all GDPR and ePrivacy rules. 

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TCF 2.2 – All You Need to Know

The latest Framework update, TCF 2.2 was released in May, and all Framework participants were given by November 20, 2023, to implement these changes and bring their practices up to standard (the initial deadline was September 30, but it was later extended).

TCF 2.2 came with an array of technical and policy updates with the goal of aiding publishers and advertisers in better meeting industry expectations and end-user needs. Here is what those updates included.

Updates to the Main Policy

In terms of the main TCF v2.2 policy, there are six novelties:

  1. Legal Basis for Personalization – Legitimate interest is no longer considered a legal basis for personalizing content and advertisements. From now on, user consent is the only valid legal basis for data collection for content and advertising personalization. This update affects collection purposes 3, 4, 5, and 6 (creation of personalized advertising profiles, profile usage for personalized advertising, creation of profiles for content personalization, profile usage for personalized content). 
  2. Information Transparency for End-Users – End-users will now have access to more information concerning how their data is processed and used. More specifically, legalese has been removed from the descriptions of data collection and processing purposes to make them more user-friendly.
  3. Vendor Information Standardization – Vendors will now be obligated to provide standardized additional information on their data processing practices, including data categories, retention periods for each purpose, and legitimate interests at stake. 
  4. CMP Vendor Transparency – CMPs also have a higher standard for transparency. They now have to disclose the number of third-party vendors looking to gain legal basis or user consent through them. 
  5. Withdrawal of Consent Facilitation – Both publishers and CMPs will have to make consent withdrawal easier for end-users. They may do so by allowing users to re-access the CMP UI and manage their consent choices. Additionally, if there is a “consent to all” option, the “withdraw consent to all” option must also be made available.
  6. Stricter Compliance Control – IAB Europe has announced that it will implement enhanced compliance audits and controls for CMPs and vendors. The audits will be carried out each month for a random selection of participants, in addition to non-compliance report-triggered audits. 

You can learn more about the TCF 2.2 policy updates here. 

Update to the Technical Specifications

On top of policy updates, there are several technical specifications updates:

  1. Depreciation of GetTCData
  2. Obligatory eventListeners use for vendors where applicable
  3. GVL updates:
    1. Improved taxonomy for data categories
    2. Data retention information by purpose
    3. Multi-language support in URL declaration

To read more about the technical updates brought about by TCF 2.2, click here.  

What Does This Mean for Publishers?

While these updates are a step in the right direction in terms of online data transparency, they inevitably mean some extra work for TCF participants.

Publishers need to carefully review the updated documentation and ensure they fully understand the novelties. You can find the recording of the IAB webinar for publishers here and download the PowerPoint presentation here. 

Publishers should also review their vendor list and make sure that all of their vendors are TCF 2.2-compliant. Keep in mind that the deadline for TCF 2.2 implementation was November 20th. 

Lastly, where applicable, publishers should bring their processes and practices up to date. 

TargetVideo and TCF 2.2

We are proud to share that TargetVideo is fully aligned with the updated TCF 2.2 guidelines. This compliance is a reflection of our overall proactive approach to adopting and implementing relevant regulations and upholding the highest industry standards. We strongly believe in a better-regulated and more transparent future of video advertising for all parties involved.

Marta Grgurović
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Marta Grgurović

Marta is a content writer with almost a decade of experience writing long-form content on an array of topics, from cartoons to IT. She holds a Master’s degree in English and is currently learning German. When she’s not writing, Marta is likely binging on true crime podcasts, hitting the gym, or starting yet another never-to-be-finished crochet project. She is also a proud mom of two dumpster cats.