The Joint Effort Will Develop Standards, Define Best Practices, and Encourage Innovation in Privacy Technology

New York, NY April 3, 2023 — IAB Tech Lab and IAB’s Legal Affairs Council announced today the launch of the Privacy Implementation & Accountability Task Force (PIAT). PIAT aims to address privacy implementation and accountability challenges faced by the digital advertising industry by bringing together leading privacy technology vendors, media companies, advertisers, and the supporting ad tech ecosystem.

“PIAT is a joint effort of IAB Tech Lab and IAB Legal Affairs Council, bringing together cross-functional expertise to solve privacy challenges that are increasingly intertwined,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “We believe that through PIAT, we can foster a new generation of privacy technology that can be leveraged to meet the new diligence and accountability requirements under state privacy laws.”

PIAT will provide a forum for the digital advertising industry to come together, create shared understandings and define best practices in privacy implementation, as well as encourage innovation in privacy tech development. Its mission is to drive consensus on privacy implementation and accountability and to solve some of the most difficult privacy challenges embedded in industry technology. Doing so will lead to better consumer privacy protection as required under applicable law.

PIAT’s working group will explore an array of privacy challenges, including the need for a common privacy taxonomy; define the limits of current privacy tech to meet new accountability standards and facilitate and encourage the market to develop the next generation of privacy tech; address data disclosures that occur in server to server transfers, as well as in the ad creative; and establish privacy implementation best practices such as in data discovery, mapping, developing low-friction user interfaces, and more.

“We recognize that the diverse range of privacy vendors and their offerings offer substantial benefits to the marketplace. However, this diversity also presents significant challenges, such as inconsistent privacy approaches and communication difficulties across parties that utilize different technologies,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “As new privacy laws and regulations come into effect, the digital advertising industry will be expected to meet higher standards of accountability for privacy compliance. PIAT aims to be a key player in addressing these challenges and ensuring more reliable consumer privacy experiences and accountability in the digital ad ecosystem.”

For more information about PIAT and how to participate in the working group, visit https://bit.ly/joinPIAT.

About IAB Technology Laboratory

Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability including the Global Privacy Platform. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

About the IAB Legal Affairs Council

The Legal Affairs Council is a forum for legal professionals of IAB General Member companies to identify legal issues in the interactive advertising community, develop or recommend solutions and help improve the legal interaction amongst IAB Member participants, including the role of the in-house counsel. The Council focuses on advancing the efficacy of contractual matters involved in the interactive advertising community, including the IAB/AAAAs Standard Terms and Conditions for interactive media buys, and will lead best practice development or stakeholder education pertaining to legal issues in the interactive advertising community as required.

Media Contacts
Michael Vaughan / Brittany Tibaldi
813-210-1706 / 347-487-6794
[email protected] / [email protected]