ECJ judgment: personalized advertising severely restricted!

ECJ judgment: personalized advertising severely restricted!

On April 5, 2025, an important decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was announced, which could have far -reaching effects on the processing of personal data for personalized advertising. This applies in particular to the so -called "Transparency and Consent Framework" (TCF) of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB), which represents advertising companies at European level. According to the information from LTO , clarified the TC-String, a string for storing user prices, as Personal date within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This decision leads to a clarification of the term "personal data" and the role of those responsible within the GDPR. The Belgian data protection authority had previously imposed measures against IAB due to violations of the GDPR. This resulted in a legal dispute that finally ended up in front of the ECJ after IAB Europe had appealed against the fine.

meaning of the decision

The judgment of the ECJ is in the context of the ongoing discussion about data protection in the digital age. A central finding is that obtaining the consent of the users is imperative to process their data before reporting personalized advertising. This includes that information on the location, age, search process or purchases fall under the term "personal data", as defined Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR. In this context, the court has made it clear that the TC-String is stored by the preferences of the users and passed on to advertising platforms, serves to create individual user profiles and thus enable users to identify them.

The IAB Europe is regarded in this case law as a jointly responsible person in the sense of the GDPR, as long as there is a demonstrable influence on data further processing. The respective influence is further checked by the Belgian courts, the legal dispute has not yet been finally decided.

technical backgrounds and challenges

The TC-String itself is a combination of letters and numbers that is stored as a cookie on the devices of the users. This technology enables the identification of users and the creation of user profiles based on their consent. According to WBS To ensure compliance with the GDPR during the personalization process.

The effects of the judgment are far -reaching. Advertiser and advertising platforms must rethink their practices with regard to personal data and ensure that they are in line with the GDPR. In the long term, this could change the way personalized advertising is made accessible.

Even if the legal framework remains complex, this judgment is a significant step towards better protection of the privacy of users in digital space and ensures that data protection is not only transparent but also effectively implemented.