February 9, 2022 | less than a minute read

A Clarion Call to Brands

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Douglas Wood

Senior Counsel

Get in touch

Douglas Wood

Senior Counsel

Recently, IAB Europe was fined by the Belgium Data Protection Authority in a decision that the IAB standards did not comply with the GDPR. It has caused a flurry of questions about the use of consumer data by marketers. The group most impacted by this are the brands that depend upon data to target their consumers. While the decision is unsettling, it provides brands with an opportunity to be part of the solution and participate in the process. Largely silent in the past, brands now have a chance to influence regulators as the industry responds. It's a critical decision if brands want to preserve their rights and insure an ROI on the billions they spend on Internet advertising.

The guardrails the ad industry erected to maintain its compliance with Europe’s wide-ranging data protection law aren’t able to actually do so, according to data protection watchdogs — led by the Belgium Data Protection Authority. The consequences of this ruling could throw a significant wrench in how data is collected — and who is responsible for fixing the issue.

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