Commentary

Privacy May Be Taxing, But At Least There's Now A Taxonomy For It

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, September 5, 2024

Given the rapidly shifting laws, regulations and ethical considerations governing consumer data privacy compliance can be overwhelming for advertisers, agencies and their media supply chain. Now there's a taxonomy for it.

While implementation may still be a challenge, a new ad industry taxonomy organizing advertising-related privacy risks and compliance can at least be visualized in an easy-to-access and organized way, thanks to the IAB Tech Lab, which released its so-called "privacy taxonomy" this morning for industry review and 30 days of public comment before ratifying it.

The taxonomy, which can be found here, is based on a "Fides," an open-source taxonomy donated by Ethyica, and organizes key data privacy groupings into three broad data categories -- elements, uses and subjects -- whose relationships can be easily conceptualized as branches from their roots.

“Our industry is at a critical juncture where the need for a unified approach to data privacy has never been more urgent,” says Jared Moscow, director of product, privacy, IAB Tech Lab. “The IAB Tech Lab Privacy Taxonomy is

It's "more than just a technical standard -- it’s a foundational shift in managing data privacy," says Moscow, noting: "The privacy taxonomy enables businesses to systematically approach the complexities of data privacy with a common framework."

In other words, while data-privacy regulation may continually evolve and disrupt, at least industry practitioners can all look at it on the same page.

If this still seems a little abstract in terms of what it might mean for your business -- and for planners and buyers, explicitly -- the lab breaks the application of the taxonomy down into four "uses cases:"

Data Understanding and Transparency: Allows businesses to categorize data consistently, offering a clear understanding of “what data is held,” “where it resides,” and “why it is used.” This clarity enhances data mapping, cataloging, and labeling, improving overall data management.

Consent Enforcement: A critical function of the taxonomy is its ability to support and enforce regulatory consent requirements. By standardizing the communication of consent, businesses can ensure that the purposes for which data is used are clearly communicated to consumers, leading to greater consistency and compliance across the industry.
Efficient Execution of Privacy Requests: Simplify the process of responding to privacy requests, such as Data Subject Requests (DSR). The taxonomy's common language allows for more streamlined retrieval, modification, or deletion of personal data, increasing automation in privacy workflows. This helps minimize costs while adding significant business value.
Auditing and Reporting of Data Processing: The taxonomy supports businesses in auditing and reporting their data processing practices. Providing a standardized way to describe data processing conditions enables more effective adherence to internal policies and external regulations, thereby enhancing the ability to audit, improve privacy practices, and facilitate regulatory compliance.

If this still seems too complicated for your own practical application, at least you know there are now industry standards for organizing privacy.

Hey, they don't call it the "tech" lab for nothing.