Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe has updated its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) through its Technical Specifications v2.4 and TCF Policies v5.0.b. The changes focus on improving transparency around multi-device consent, making TCF Features easier to understand, clarifying Special Feature 2, and ensuring that vendors relying only on TCF Special Purposes are handled through the Disclosed Vendors segment of TC String. Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) must implement the updated web disclosures by October 23, 2026, followed by mobile app and connected TV (CTV) environments by February 23, 2027.
A. Supporting Multi-Device Consent
The updated Policies provide publishers with greater flexibility to persist privacy choices across multiple devices, particularly when users are signed into an account. When choices are applied in this way, users must be clearly informed about their scope.
CMPs should also enable publishers to keep their users informed about the scope of their privacy choices where they are persisted across multiple devices, and manage conflicts between a user’s local, pre-login choices and previously stored account-level preferences. For example, the interface may explain that a user’s privacy choices apply across websites and devices to keep their preferences consistent.
B. Making TCF Features Easier to Understand
TCF Policies v5.0.b introduces a new standardTexts field in the Global Vendor List (GVL). This field provides standard explanations and translations clarifying that Features are methods of processing used only in support of one or more purposes for which users are given a choice.
CMPs must display the relevant standard explanation alongside Features and incorporate the official Feature illustrations supplied through the updated GVL. Features must not be placed next to controls that users cannot disable, as such placement could incorrectly suggest that the Features themselves are independently selectable.
C. Renaming Special Feature 2
IAB Europe has renamed Special Feature 2 from “Actively scan device characteristics for identification” to “Identify devices based on information actively requested.”
The revised wording more clearly covers the active collection of device information, including Client Hints used for identification or fingerprinting. CMPs should update the name across consent banners, preference centers, vendor disclosures, and all supported translations.
IAB Europe has also revised Example Stack Combination 3 (Advertisers) by removing Purposes 2, 3, and 4. CMPs using this standard example should update their configurations accordingly.
D. Reviewing TC String Generation
Alongside the v5.0.b changes, CMPs should review how their TC Strings represent vendors that declare only Special Purposes. IAB has emphasized that these vendors should be handled through the Disclosed Vendors segment, rather than the Vendor Legitimate Interest section.
This aligns with TCF v2.3, under which the Disclosed Vendors segment became mandatory. IAB’s technical documentation describes using the Legitimate Interest section for Special Purpose-only vendors as redundant. Therefore, CMPs should verify whether their backend TC String generation logic requires an update.
Implementation Timeline
IAB Europe published TCF Specifications v2.4 and the corresponding GVL update on July 23, 2026. CMPs must implement the new disclosures in web environments by October 23, 2026, and in mobile app and CTV environments by February 23, 2027.
Organizations using an IAB TCF-enabled CMP should confirm that their implementation supports multi-device disclosures, ingests the updated GVL content and illustrations, displays the required Feature explanations, uses the new Special Feature 2 name, and correctly generates the Disclosed Vendors segment.
These updates reflect IAB Europe’s continued focus on clearer disclosures, more understandable consent experiences, and consistent privacy choices across devices and digital environments.
Publishers can utilize Securiti’s Cookie Consent Management Module to comply with IAB EU TCF v2.4. Click here to learn more.
