Adform now supports Global Privacy Control Signals in Browsers

Adform yesterday announced support for Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals within web browsers. This update strengthens user privacy protections by allowing individuals to express their tracking preferences directly within their browser settings.

What is Global Privacy Control (GPC)?

GPC is a technical specification that empowers web users to opt out of data tracking and sharing across websites. This is achieved through a browser-level setting or a dedicated extension. When enabled, GPC automatically communicates the user's preference to websites, complying with data privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Adform Academy offers a course Understand Evolving Privacy Regulations to provide further context on data privacy regulations.

How Does GPC Work with Adform?

When a user activates GPC in their browser, the signal is embedded within every request sent to Adform on websites that have implemented GPC functionality. This informs Adform of the user's preference to opt out of data tracking and sharing.

Technically, Adform receives the GPC signal through an HTTP request header. This header transmits a value of "1" or "true" depending on the specific context, signifying the user's opt-out choice. More technical details can be found in the GPC specification document.

Upon receiving the GPC signal, Adform treats the user as opted out, ensuring their privacy preferences are upheld. It's important to note that for users implementing server-side tracking, their setup needs to be configured to detect GPC signals. This ensures that GPC HTTP headers are forwarded within the server-side tracking request.

The introduction of GPC support by Adform reflects the evolving landscape of online user privacy. With stricter data protection regulations coming into effect globally, user control over their data is becoming increasingly important.