Powered by SafeGuard Privacy, the Platform Offers Efficient, Scalable, and Industry-Specific Privacy Diligence for the Digital Advertising Industry

With 19 comprehensive state privacy laws currently in effect and more on the horizon, digital advertising has now officially become a regulated industry. These changes in the legal landscape emphasize principles of accountability and transparency, including conducting diligence of the partners to whom businesses disclose personal information in digital ad transactions.

To meet this need, IAB launched the IAB Diligence Platform powered by SafeGuard Privacy, which offers a practical solution for third-party privacy due diligence. This new platform is available to the entire digital advertising industry, including brands, agencies, ad tech companies, publishers, and platforms. IAB working groups have drafted thorough, standardized, industry-specific questionnaires that are now complete and available for use in the platform. Combined with SafeGuard Privacy’s comprehensive U.S. state law assessments, IAB’s Diligence Platform gives the industry a dynamic, comprehensive, and standardized diligence privacy solution that can scale with evolving regulations.

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“In world, where privacy laws are constantly changing and compliance is becoming more and more complicated, the IAB Diligence Platform offers a much-needed, user-friendly solution,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “We’re committed to giving the ecosystem the tools it needs to navigate these challenges confidently while maintaining strong data privacy standards. The most important takeaway is to get ahead of your responsibilities under the law, and be proactive, not reactive.”

Key Features of the IAB Diligence Platform include:

• Advertising Industry-Specific Questions: IAB-developed privacy-related questions that tie to digital advertising data flows and business use cases, ensuring thorough third-party due diligence.
• Efficiency and Scalability: Until now, ensuring vendor compliance has been a manual, complex, and time-consuming process. Platform users can now complete relevant questionnaires once and share them with current and prospective deal partners, streamlining the diligence process and reducing repetitive tasks.
• Comprehensive Compliance: The platform has been updated to address current state privacy laws, the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, and industry compliance initiatives like the Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA).

“State privacy laws now emphasize accountability, requiring businesses to ensure partners handle personal information lawfully, with mandatory audit provisions in contracts,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB & IAB Tech Lab. “Additionally, regulations highlight the importance of due diligence in determining liability, making third-party risk management extremely important.”

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“Our work with IAB has produced a powerful compliance platform that not only helps companies meet regulatory demands, but also sets new benchmarks for data privacy and compliance in the industry,” said Richy Glassberg, Co-Founder & CEO, SafeGuard Privacy. “Stakeholders now have a single source of truth to demonstrate and manage their diligence efficiently across the industry with all of their partners. The regulations are real and will be enforced – the key action to take is to begin preparing today.”

Several organizations, including Adform, Hershey, and Raptive have been vocal supporters of the platform during the development process. Their close involvement exemplifies the collaborative nature of this industry-wide effort.

John Piccone, Regional President, Americas, Adform: “New vendor due diligence requirements are especially challenging for digital advertising companies that work with thousands of partners. This platform helps streamline our diligence processes by using standardized questions and automated compliance updates, ensuring our partners comply with the latest privacy laws.”

Vinny Rinaldi, Head of Media, U.S. CMG & Salty, Hershey: “The IAB Diligence Platform helps us manage privacy regulations and ensure our advertising partners meet high data protection standards. We’re eager to use this platform to enhance our compliance efforts and uphold our commitment to consumer privacy.”

Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer, Raptive: By centralizing compliance across multiple partners, the IAB Diligence Platform enables media companies like Raptive to assure our customers that their data is handled responsibly and in a manner that meets all requirements under the law. Additionally, the platform’s ability to update compliance as laws change keeps us proactive, not reactive.

The development of the IAB Diligence Platform was first announced at IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM) in January 2024, where industry privacy lawyers and law firms collaborated within the Privacy Implementation and Accountability Task Force (PIAT) to draft the right business and privacy questions for each digital advertising use case and vendor type.