IAB response to the 图标’s ‘consent or pay’ call for views

3月，图标 回应 to questions about its interpretation of the law from IAB英国 and AOP publisher members who were considering changes to their cookie consent approaches. At the same time, the 图标 launched a 呼吁 视图 on its emerging thinking on ‘consent or pay’ models for accessing online content and services to inform its future guidance. 

IAB英国 has submitted views to the 图标 on behalf of our members. As we note in our response, the complexities of ‘consent or pay’ require balancing consumer choice, 营收保护, 和遵从性. We have set out our support for an approach that:  

• Reflects the value exchange that consumers benefit from by having free ad-supported access to commercial online content/services. IAB英国 ' s数字红利’ report showed that the actual cost saving for UK households of not having to pay for ad-funded digital services stands at £580 a year and in the cost-of-living crisis, 70% of UK adults say that it’s important to them that online services are free1  

• Reflects the cost of producing and providing those services 

• Supports the offer of a fair choice to consumers, which appropriately balances privacy/data considerations with other rights 

We agree with the 图标 that, 原则上, data protection law does not prohibit business models that involve ‘consent or pay’ and consent can be valid when it is obtained within a framework of choices that include ad-supported or paid-for options. 然而, we do not believe that the existence of paid-for options will always pose a risk to the validity of consent, as suggested by the 图标’s emerging thinking. 而, the risk should be assessed objectively, on a case-by-case basis and the 图标’s guidance needs to reflect that. Given the considerations involved and their interaction with competition and consumer protection law, any new guidance will require input from the CMA.

Our response emphasises commercial providers’ right to choose their business models and service offerings, so long as they do so in a lawful way, and we have urged the 图标 to avoid suggesting that consumers are entitled to access commercial content and services for free, 是否支持广告. 类似的, we have said that the 图标 needs to take care in its narrative and future guidance on ‘consent or pay’ to acknowledge that consumers are paying for the content or service, not for data protection and privacy rights; these apply irrespective of the access model they choose.

The 图标 says that responses to its call for views will influence the development of its final regulatory positions ‘which will be reflected in the 图标’s upcoming guidance update on cookies and similar technologies’. This is not expected until after the DPDI Bill has received Royal Assent later this year.