IAB Tech Lab's Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) Working Group Releases Comprehensive Guidance on Differential Privacy

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Nov 15, 2023, 09:00 ET

New Document Offers Clarity and Actionable Insights on Differential Privacy, Helping Industry Professionals Make Informed Choices Amidst the Changing Landscape of AdTech and Data Privacy

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the release of their Differential Privacy Guidance, a document that aims to empower the digital advertising ecosystem with the knowledge and tools needed to evaluate and harness emerging PETs effectively. Developed by IAB Tech Lab's PETs Working Group, the guidance is a critical resource for publishers and advertisers who are navigating the adtech ecosystem amidst third-party cookie deprecation and the rising demand for protecting consumer identity and personal data in business applications. IAB Tech Lab will be accepting public comments until December 14, 2023.

Often surrounded by hype and misinformation, differential privacy is a key privacy enhancing technology that provides a mathematical guarantee of privacy. It is demystified in this document, which provides concrete guidance on its definition, applications, and real-world usefulness in digital advertising. It highlights specific use cases, helping readers understand where differential privacy can be effectively deployed and where it may not be suitable.

"Education and confusion regarding PETs such as differential privacy are widespread in the adtech industry, and the document aims to rectify this by offering clear and practical insights," said Miguel Morales, Director, Addressability & PETs, IAB Tech Lab. "It emphasizes the importance of differential privacy in preventing re-identification and reverse engineering of individual identity and personal data while ensuring collaborative efforts remain privacy-compliant."

Differential Privacy Guidance offers several critical takeaways for industry professionals, including:

Empowering product decision-makers by arming them with the knowledge necessary to make informed choices when considering differential privacy-backed products.
Providing a practical understanding of where and how differential privacy can be effectively applied.
Ensuring that resources are strategically directed towards genuinely productive use cases, thereby optimizing the use of privacy enhancing technology.

"As experts in PETs, we understand the importance of providing clear, actionable guidance on differential privacy," said Andrei Lapets, VP, Engineering & Applied Cryptography, Magnite. "We urge publishers and advertisers to seize this opportunity to enhance their knowledge and understanding of differential privacy's practical applications, benefits, and implementation challenges. By doing so, they can better position themselves to protect personal data, navigate the compliance landscape, and drive their businesses forward with confidence."

For more information or to access the Differential Privacy Guidance, please visit https://iabtechlab.com/diffprivacy/.

About IAB Technology Laboratory
Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

SOURCE IAB Tech Lab