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The TCF Listener can be used to detect Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) 2.0 Purposes and map them to BlueConic Objectives. When customers visit your channels, the TCF Listener will look for their last known consent preferences and update their BlueConic profiles with consented and refused Objectives. This is a global listener, which means that once it is installed on your tenant, there is no configuration required and it will be automatically executed for page views on every channel in your tenant.

The Transparency and Consent Framework

The Transparency and Consent Framework 2.0 (TCF 2.0), developed by IAB Europe, provides a standardized way for companies in the digital advertising ecosystem to manage and respect user consent in compliance with GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. Additionally, TCF is used and supported by several popular Consent Management Platforms (CMPs). The framework ensures transparency by giving users control over how their personal data is collected, processed, and shared for purposes like personalized advertising and content delivery. Users can grant or deny consent for specific purposes, providing more granular control over their data.

TCF 2.0 defines purposes for which companies may process data, including:

1. Store and/or access information on a device
2. Select basic ads
3. Create a personalized ads profile
4. Select personalized ads
5. Create a personalized content profile
6. Select personalized content
7. Measure ad performance
8. Measure content performance
9. Apply market research to generate audience insights
10. Develop and improve products
11. Use limited data to select content
12. Technically deliver ads or content

This framework benefits both businesses and users by promoting compliance with data privacy laws while allowing digital advertising to function effectively.

Installing the TCF Listener

By default, the TCF Listener is not installed in BlueConic. To install it, navigate to BlueConic Settings > Plugins, click the Add plugin button, and register the following external URL:

https://plugins.blueconic.net/listener_tcf/index.xml

For more detailed instructions, see What are BlueConic plugins? And if you need further assistance, contact BlueConic Support.

Adding TCF Purposes as BlueConic Objectives

Once you have the TCF Listener installed, you can create the Objectives for each of the 12 pre-defined TCF Purposes via the Notifications menu in your tenant.

1. Open the Notifications menu by clicking the bell icon in the top right corner.
2. Here, you will see a “New Objectives” notification.
3. Click the “Create” button to generate BlueConic Objectives for all 12 TCF Purposes.
4. After they are created, you can navigate to the More > Objectives tab of the platform to inspect your new objects and change the title and descriptions.

Using data from the TCF Listener

Once the TCF purposes are synced with BlueConic profiles and objectives, you can gain a clear understanding of which users have consented or refused to specific purposes. This data allows for precise targeting, ensuring that actions are only executed for profiles who have given consent. Each object in BlueConic, such as Listeners, Connections, and Dialogues, can be linked to an Objective based on a profile’s consent. For example, if a customer refuses consent for "Tracking Cookies," all tracking listeners can be deactivated for that profile, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. Always check with your legal team to see if you are compliant with data policies and regulations in your specific case.

The TCF Listener also enables you to refine audience segmentation for external platforms like Facebook Advertising by linking consent objectives. For instance, a segment of profiles interested in a specific product can be filtered to only include those who have consented to social media cookies. This ensures that only customers who have given the appropriate consent are targeted, while those who have refused are excluded, protecting their privacy.

Additionally, if you want to use this data outside of BlueConic, it is stored in a readable format for external systems to adopt. By exporting profile properties such as "Consented Objectives" and "Refused Objectives," external platforms can ensure compliance with privacy regulations, even if they cannot directly interact with TCF's consent framework.

Privacy management

Listeners can be added to Objectives, allowing for privacy management of the information that is being picked up. The listener will only update a profile if the visitor consented to at least one of the objectives that it is linked to.