IAB Tech Lab’s Privacy Taxonomy is a standardized framework for managing data. It offers a universal language to help businesses classify data, its uses, and the individuals involved – making it easier to comply with global privacy law.
A 30-day public comment period is now open for the Implementation Guidelines of the Privacy Taxonomy, ending on April 17th, 2025.
Why Focus on Implementation?
When the Privacy Taxonomy was first introduced for public comment in September 2024, it was met with strong interest as the industry understood the conceptual framework but there were questions about how to use the standard in practice. This is where the Implementation Guidelines come in.
The Guidelines take the taxonomy from a theoretical model to a set of actionable steps, enabling businesses to integrate it into their existing data systems. This will help businesses more easily apply the taxonomy to their operations, whether it’s for compliance with global laws, managing data subject rights, or maintaining transparent data practices.
Guidelines for Multiple Roles
As with most things related to privacy, and especially anything used to aid in regulatory compliance, there is a need for legal teams and product / engineering teams to collaborate to ensure that privacy requirements are properly implemented and tracked across both legal obligations and technical systems. The Implementation Guidelines provide details for each of these roles. For legal teams, they offer an explanation of the privacy management tasks that the taxonomy aids in, such as data subject requests, consent management, and disclosures. For product and engineering teams, the guidelines provide technical details, including information about the configuration files, syntax, and how to apply the taxonomy within their systems.
We Want Your Feedback
The Implementation Guidelines are meant to ensure the Privacy Taxonomy is as practical and useful as possible for everyone. We encourage you to review the guidelines and provide your feedback. Your insights will help improve these guidelines, making it even easier for the industry to implement.
Comments may be submitted to support@iabtechlab.com. The public comment period ends on April 17, 2025.
Rowena Lam
Sr Director, Data & Privacy
IAB Tech Lab