EU Court rules tracking-based advertising in Europe has no legal basis
14/05/2025 | Belgium DPA
The Belgian Court of Appeal has ruled that the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF), which is used as the foundation for most online advertising, is illegal in the European Union. The decision upholds the findings of the Belgian data protection authority in 2022 that TCF violates the EU General Data Protection Regulations.
In a statement responding to the news, Dr Johnny Ryan, senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), said: "Today's court's decision shows that the consent system used by Google, Amazon, X, Microsoft, deceives hundreds of millions of Europeans. The tech industry has sought to hide its vast data breach behind sham consent popups. Tech companies turned the GDPR into a daily nuisance rather than a shield for people."
Meanwhile, having filed the appeal, IAB Europe said: "The Market Court has rejected the APD's view that IAB Europe is a joint controller with TCF participants for their own respective processing of personal data, for instance for the purpose of digital advertising."
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