IAB Europe TCF Policy 3.5 & 4.0

Webinar TCF Policy 3.5 vs. 4.0:
New changes you need to know about
The digital advertising industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, particularly with regard to privacy and data protection. The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) was introduced to address these concerns and provide a standardised approach to data management.
In this webinar, the TCF Governance Board addresses new changes to the latest iteration of TCF Policy 4.0 from TCF Policy 3.5 to address concerns raised by the Belgian Data Protection Authority and other DPAs.
Speakers include those actively involved in updating and developing the TCF policy; Christop Zippel Senior Legal Counsel at RTL, Elena Turtureanu, VP Legal and Privacy of Adform, Jan Winkler, CEO of consentmanager and Peter Craddock, Partner at Keller and Heckman LLP.
The changes are effective immediately and will require all parties; CMPs, vendors and publishers to update their data practices accordingly.
Key Differences Between TCF Policy 3.5 and 4.0
Legitimate interest as a legal basis for purposes 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be removed, meaning that businesses will need to obtain explicit user consent for these purposes.
TCF Policy 4.0 also includes improvements to the user-friendly standard texts of Purposes and Features, making them more concise and easier to understand. For this to happen, the legal text has been removed, previously being too complicated for the end-user to understand. For all languages, there will be a transition period made available progressively once it’s finalized.
Another significant change in TCF Policy 4.0 is the new first layer requirement, which mandates the disclosure of the number of Vendors involved in the data processing. Publishers are encouraged to display only the vendors actually used. This information must be clearly displayed in the first layer of the interface, since users don’t usually have any expectations on the number of vendors.
TCF Policy 4.0 also includes updates to its policy in relation to the withdrawal of consent, making it easier for users to change their preferences. If you have an “Accept All” button, you need to have a “Withdraw All” button. This was added to the policy because it was not always easy for users to withdraw their consent.
So, how can TCF participants participate in this new version of the framework?
CMPs can ingest the new version of the Global Vendor List (GVL), which contains more information about vendors, and build new user-facing disclosures into their UIs. Vendors can ensure that their live installations retrieve the TC string in real time to ensure accurate data processing, and publishers can ensure that their CMP UI can be easily refreshed by users.
Watch the webinar which outlines the requirements for the various TCF participants.
TCF Policy 4.0 is a significant improvement over its predecessor, with changes aimed at enhancing user privacy and data protection. This article aims to provide an overview of the key differences between TCF Policy 3.5 and 4.0 and how they may affect your business. Watch the webinar TCF Policy 3.5 vs 4.0 for a more in-depth explanation of these changes.