Fixing the internet by helping industry participants better manage the risks present in their digital environment
COLOGNE, Germany – 12 September 2018 – IAB Europe, the industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem in Europe, announces the development of the Consent Management Platform (CMP) Validator, a tool that validates whether a CMP’s code conforms to the technical specifications and protocols detailed in the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework (Framework). Developed by The Media Trust, CMP Validator supports CMPs registered with the Framework. While currently in beta, the tool will be available on October 1 this year.
Publishers and tech vendors use CMPs to provide transparency, and collect, store, and, where appropriate, share consent information across the advertising ecosystem in order to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Today, more than 150 CMPs are registered with the Framework and fall under two categories: (1) those provided for use by multiple publishers and (2) those built in-house by publishers. A CMP’s failure to accurately read and record consumers’ choices could not only subject publishers and their tech vendors to financial penalties but also reduce publishers’ revenue and buyers’ opportunities.
“As processing a user’s personal data in compliance with the GDPR requires close cooperation between players in the advertising ecosystem, setting standards for how data is processed and ensuring the technologies being used are implemented according to those standards will benefit everyone across the digital advertising supply chain,” says IAB Europe CEO Townsend Feehan. “CMP Validator exemplifies our commitment to support the industry’s compliance with GDPR and, in the long run, will help the industry achieve greater transparency and accountability while providing publishers and their users the control and choice they want.”
“As regulations reshape the industry in the coming years, CMP Validator will help companies maintain continuous compliance with the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework and also provide more transparency to users,” says The Media Trust CEO Chris Olson. “Supporting the development and implementation of CMP Validator aligns with our mission to fix the internet by helping industry participants better manage the risks present in their digital environment.”
CMP Validator uses The Media Trust platform to compare CMP code to publicly available Framework specification requirements. Users can test their CMP code and receive real-time insight into any failures. By doing so, they are able to validate their CMP is effectively delivering on its intended benefits. Used industry-wide, the tool will reduce any friction in CMP adoption and give publishers and their digital partners greater confidence in their ability to stay compliant with GDPR.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment, demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business practices that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand advertising to scale in Europe.
About The Media Trust
The Media Trust is fixing the internet by creating better digital ecosystems to govern assets, connect partners and enable digital risk management. Established in 2005, The Media Trust leverages a physical presence in 65 countries and 500 cities to detect and remediate security, privacy, ad quality and performance violations executing on websites and mobile apps. More than 600 media publishers, ad tech providers, agencies, retailers and enterprises—including 40 of comScore’s AdFocus Top 50 websites—rely on The Media Trust to protect their digital environment, their revenue and, most importantly, their brand. Learn more at www.mediatrust.com.
