As of Oct. 10, 2025, a new European regulation on political advertising will apply. This includes the conditions for being allowed to target people with targeted (targeted) online political advertising. The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP) has drafted a guide to help organizations comply with these new rules for targeted political advertising. With a public consultation, the AP is asking (industry) organizations, experts and stakeholders to respond to this guidance.
With the Regulation on Transparency and Targeted Political Advertising (VPR), the legislature aims to prevent voters from being surreptitiously influenced during election campaigns and eroding confidence in fair elections.
As of Oct. 10, the AP is monitoring those articles of the VPR that deal with targeted online political advertising involving the processing of personal data. The AP's guidance does not cover the other articles from the VPR that deal with transparency surrounding the origin of political advertising. For that, the Media Authority has been designated as the regulator.
Research and signals from Open State Foundation indicate that the practical implementation of transparency requirements for political ads is still facing teething problems. As of Oct. 10, political ads must have a clear label and a transparency statement showing the total amount of advertising, including all forms of media (radio, TV, online, print, outdoor). In reality, however, these labels and statements are still often incomplete, and advertising companies and clients do not yet meet all the requirements of the new regulation. Open State Foundation is calling on the regulatory bodies - including the AP, the Consumer and Market Authority and the Media Authority - to work together to achieve full compliance. Further tightening and enforcement are necessary to ensure the intended transparency and protection of democracy, according to the foundation.
The VPR includes the requirements that organizations must meet in order to target people with targeted online political advertising, for example through social media. 'Targeted' means that the advertising (does not) reach a particular target group (also called 'targeted ads'). In addition, the VPR also sets requirements for how these organizations provide information about their targeted online political advertising.
The AP believes it is important that organizations using targeting techniques for online political advertising understand the rules they must comply with. And that they also comply with these rules. With this guidance the AP provides information about the rules. And explains how organizations can apply the rules in practice. The guidance is addressed to data controllers under the supervision of the AP.
With this consultation, the AP invites (industry) organizations, experts and stakeholders to respond to the guidance. The input will be used to sharpen and improve the guidance.
What do you think of the guidance and does it add value for you?
Are there any parts of the guidance that you think the AP could clarify? If so, what part is this about and what clarification do you need?
Do you have good real-world examples that the AP could incorporate into the guidance?
Besides the use of targeting techniques, do you see other influential(er) methods of influence that involve processing personal data and influence the electoral process?
