Lord Lucas tables IAB UK’s amendments to the DPDI Bill

Since the DPDI Bill was introduced, we have been advocating for the Government to take the opportunity to extend cookie consent exemptions to advertising and audience measurement and analytics - functions that are essential to digital advertising and do not intrude on people’s privacy.We’ve also been voicing our concerns about the provisions contained in the Bill that will allow for future changes in law to the way that people control their cookie consent choices and how these are signalled.We have been working with members of the House of Lords to gain support for our position and Conservative Peer Lord Lucas has now formally tabled our proposed amendments that, if accepted, would be added to the Bill. The amendments we have put forward aim to achieve two things: 

• Enable cookies to be used for ad measurement and audience measurement on an opt-out basis, by adding a consent exemption to the Bill (which already creates some new exceptions to the general requirement for prior user consent)
• Create additional safeguards so that if the Government decides in the future to implement centralised cookie consent mechanisms, this decision is subject to appropriate checks and balances and greater transparency, to help minimise risks. For example, requirements to consult affected stakeholders and publish and assessment of the impact of these changes on competition and existing laws, before introducing new regulations

These changes are aimed at supporting the digital ad ecosystem and preserving the functionality and viability of the ad-funded web that our research shows is highly valuable to people and businesses throughout the UK. 
 
We have secured cross-party support with Lord Clement-Jones, Liberal Democrat Peer and spokesman for the digital economy in the House of Lords agreeing to co-sponsor our amendments, alongside Lord Lucas.We are continuing to talk to other members of the Lords to seek further support for our amendments ahead of the Committee stage, starting on 20 March, where the Bill and potential amendments to it will be considered in detail. The more support we have, the more likely the Committee is to agree to accept the changes. We are working together with the Advertising Association on this and are continuing to engage with the Government to encourage it to adopt the amendments, which would also increase the likelihood that they are accepted and become part of the Bill.  Note: Although we talk here about cookies, the relevant law applies to cookies or any other similar technology that is used to store or access information on a device, so these changes have wider application.