Digital
IAB Tech Lab announces the formation of two new working groups
Mumbai: IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the establishment of two new working groups that will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital media and advertising: the Privacy Sandbox Task Force and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subcommittee.
Privacy Sandbox Task Force
As digital advertising faces a significant turning point with the evolving Privacy Sandbox within Google’s Chrome browser, IAB Tech Lab created the Privacy Sandbox Task Force. This specialized task force is dedicated to conducting a rigorous technical and operational analysis of the forthcoming Privacy Sandbox modifications and their implications for digital advertising use cases.
The Privacy Sandbox Task Force’s key objectives include:
● Technical Examination: Explore the technical intricacies of Google Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox updates, including the protected audience API and Attribution Reporting API, to understand their implications for advertisers, publishers, and ad tech providers.
● Operational Insight: Analyze operational shifts that stakeholders in digital advertising must adapt to, ensuring the consistent delivery, optimization, and measurement of digital ads.
● Gap Analysis: Analyze, understand, and document the critical advertising use cases supported by the Privacy Sandbox and what gaps need to be addressed and propose improvements to ensure the needs of brands and publishers are properly addressed.
● Recommendations: Provide actionable guidance and update existing or introduce new technical standards for the digital advertising ecosystem to address the changes introduced by the Chrome browser. The Task Force will publish its analysis and recommendations for the industry’s benefit later this year.
“Given their worldwide market share of approximately 65%, understanding the shifts brought about by Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox development is crucial,” said IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur.
The Privacy Sandbox Task Force welcomes all IAB Tech Lab members and encourages digital advertising stakeholders globally who have performed testing or analyzed the Privacy Sandbox proposals to participate. Collaborative engagement will be vital in navigating this significant development in the advertising industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subcommittee
The AI Subcommittee was created due to the transformative impact of AI on the digital media landscape. This subcommittee, composed of a select group of IAB Tech Lab Board members, is dedicated to exploring the rapidly evolving intersection of AI technologies with the world of digital media.
The AI Subcommittee’s key objectives include:
● Roadmap Development: Identifying near, short-and long-term roadmap deliverables to address AI’s impact on the digital media ecosystem, with an initial focus on media companies.
● Ethical Framework Creation: Addressing ethical challenges associated with AI in media by creating new technical standards and frameworks to ensure content remains trustworthy, transparent, and respects user privacy.
● AI Media Trends Analysis: Conducting a comprehensive analysis of AI-driven trends in digital media, encompassing content recommendation algorithms, virtual reality, generative AI, and deepfake technology.
Katsur emphasized the importance of this subcommittee, stating, “AI is not just a technological tool; it’s a force reshaping our media landscape. Its impact extends across content creation, distribution, consumption, consumer privacy, and monetization. The AI Subcommittee is poised to assume a vital role in comprehending and directing Tech Lab’s AI roadmap to manage this evolution.”
The AI Subcommittee is open exclusively to IAB Tech Lab Board Members, bringing together data scientists, publisher executives, cryptographers, and technology leaders from publishers, agencies, and big tech platforms to collaborate on shaping an informed, ethical, and exciting future for AI in digital media.
Digital
RBI proposes Rs 25,000 compensation cap for small digital fraud losses
RBI, customer bank and beneficiary bank will share payouts
NATIONAL: The Reserve Bank of India has proposed a new compensation framework for small-value fraudulent electronic banking transactions, requiring the central bank, the customer’s bank and the beneficiary’s bank to share payouts to affected customers.
Under draft rules released on Friday, compensation will be capped at the lower of 85 per cent of the net loss amount or Rs 25,000 in cases where the gross loss from a fraudulent electronic transaction is up to Rs 50,000.
The proposal comes as regulators step up efforts to strengthen customer protection amid a rise in digital banking frauds.
RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra had indicated during last month’s monetary policy announcement that the central bank planned to introduce a compensation framework for small-value digital frauds, allowing affected customers to claim relief once during their lifetime.
According to the draft guidelines, when the loss is below Rs 29,412, compensation of 85 per cent of the loss will be paid. Of this amount, 65 per cent will be borne by the RBI, while the customer’s bank and the beneficiary bank will contribute 10 per cent each.
For losses of Rs 29,412 or more but up to Rs 50,000, the compensation will be capped at Rs 25,000. In such cases, the RBI will contribute Rs 19,118, while the customer’s bank and the beneficiary bank will each contribute Rs 2,941.
If funds are later recovered after compensation has been paid, the customer’s bank must recalculate the payout based on the revised net loss and adjust the recovered amount accordingly.
Customers will be eligible for compensation only if they report the fraudulent transaction within five calendar days of its occurrence.
Complaints must be lodged both with the bank and through the National Cyber Crime reporting portal or the National Cyber Crime helpline. Banks must also confirm that the loss is bona fide under their internal processes.
Once a complaint is received, banks must compensate the customer within five calendar days, the draft rules state.
In joint accounts, only one account holder may submit a compensation claim.
The central bank has also proposed tightening transaction alerts by mandating instant SMS notifications for all electronic banking transactions above Rs 500. For transactions of up to Rs 500, banks may decide whether to send alerts based on internal policies.
Banks will not be allowed to charge customers for SMS messages sent to meet regulatory requirements or those used for promotional, marketing or customer awareness purposes.
The draft framework also calls for stronger oversight by requiring banks to periodically report complaints related to fraudulent electronic transactions to their boards or board-level committees. These reports must detail the number and value of cases across categories including card-present transactions, card-not-present transactions, internet banking, mobile banking and ATM transactions.
The RBI has invited public comments on the draft guidelines until 6 April, 2026. The rules are expected to take effect on 1 July, 2026 once finalised.
Banking officials say the proposed sharing of compensation between the RBI, the customer’s bank and the beneficiary bank is intended to increase vigilance across the digital payments ecosystem.
