• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 19, 2020

Data regulators in Belgium have found fault with the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe's framework for complying with the EU's broad privacy law.

The IAB Europe's transparency and consent framework, rolled out in 2018, allows companies to disclose sensitive data about consumers without their permission, according to a summary of the Belgian Data Protection Authority's preliminary findings posted by advocacy group Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

The report comes in response to numerous complaints by privacy advocates. One of the complaints, brought in January of 2019, alleged that the IAB Europe's framework allows publishers to create “content taxonomies” that include sensitive categories like “infertility,” “cancer” and “diabetes.”

The IAB Europe says it disagrees with the Belgian regulator's report.

The group stated Friday that the transparency and consent framework is a “voluntary standard” that “contains a minimal set of best practices seeking to ensure that when personal data is processed, users are provided with adequate transparency and choice.”

The group adds that the report only represents the “preliminary views” of the Belgian regulator, and “has no binding effect with regard to any breach of the law by IAB Europe.”