Brussels, Belgium, 9th November 2026 – IAB Europe, Alliance Digitale, BVDW, IAB Austria, IAB Finland, IAB Ireland, IAB Italia, IAB Polska, IAB Portugal and IAB Spain have sent a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Michael McGrath ahead of the expected publication of the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) proposal.
The letter calls for simplification to guide the DFA and urges the Commission to avoid disproportionate restrictions on personalisation. Welcoming Commissioner McGrath’s ambition to simplify rules and provide legal certainty, the signatories stress that any additional obligations must deliver demonstrable consumer benefits while preserving the advertising-funded business model that supports European publishers, SMEs and consumers’ access to digital content and services.
The letter raises concerns about two potential measures: an additional opt-out mechanism for personalised advertising and the introduction of “dynamic vulnerability” as a basis for restricting commercial practices. It warns that another layer of advertising choices could confuse consumers and increase compliance burdens, while a broadly defined concept of vulnerability could create legal uncertainty and incentivise additional collection of personal data to identify consumers’ changing circumstances.
The signatories call for priority to be given to consistent interpretation and effective enforcement of existing legislation. Any new measures should address clearly identified harms through proportionate, objectively assessable and technically feasible requirements.
The letter can be found here.
For more information, please contact Ines Talavera, Senior Public Policy Manager, IAB Europe – talavera [at] iabeurope.eu / Lauren Wakefield, Marketing & Communications Director, IAB Europe – wakefield [at] iabeurope.eu.
