IAB TCF 2.3 (Transparency & Consent Framework)

The IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) version 2.2 is the advertising industry's standard protocol for communicating user consent preferences to ad technology vendors in a structured, machine-readable format. Developed by IAB Europe, TCF provides a common language between Consent Management Platforms (CMPs), publishers, and advertising technology vendors for consent collection and signal propagation. TCF 2.3 defines 10 standard purposes for data processing in advertising: (1) Store and access information on a device, (2) Select basic ads, (3) Create a personalized ads profile, (4) Select personalized ads, (5) Create a personalized content profile, (6) Select personalized content, (7) Measure ad performance, (8) Measure content performance, (9) Apply market research, and (10) Develop and improve products. Each registered vendor specifies which purposes they require consent or legitimate interest for, and the CMP collects user consent on a per-purpose or per-vendor basis. The consent choices are encoded into a TC String — a base64-encoded string that contains the consent status for all purposes and vendors. This TC String is shared with ad tech platforms through the __tcfapi JavaScript API (window.__tcfapi), which provides standard methods: addEventListener (listen for consent changes), getTCData (retrieve current consent), and ping (check CMP status). When an ad auction occurs, demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms read the TC String to determine whether they have consent to bid on and serve ads to that user. TCF 2.3 registration is managed by IAB Europe and requires CMPs to undergo a certification process (approximately EUR 5,000/year). Arqam360 supports TCF 2.3 through an opt-in configuration (tcfEnabled: true), implementing the __tcfapi stub, purpose mapping from consent categories, TC String generation, and ad tech listener notification on consent changes.