---
title: "Case C-604/22: judgment of 7 March 2024"
canonical: "https://dposchool.com/gdpr/case/c-604-22"
source: "https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-604/22&language=en"
source_note: "Only the judgment as published by the Court of Justice is authoritative."
text_as_of: "2026-10-28"
last_reviewed: "2026-10-29"
language: "en"
publisher: "DPO School"
---

Court of Justice judgment · Case C-604/22

# IAB Europe v Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit

[Reviewed by Sergio Maldonado Elvira on 29 October 2026](https://dposchool.com/gdpr/about#review)

- **Case:** C-604/22
- **Court:** Court of Justice
- **Date of judgment:** 7 March 2024
- **ECLI:** ECLI:EU:C:2024:214
- **Instrument:** Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
- **Provisions:** [Article 4(1)](https://dposchool.com/gdpr/article/4#4-1), [Article 4(7)](https://dposchool.com/gdpr/article/4#4-7), [Article 26(1)](https://dposchool.com/gdpr/article/26#1)

## Holding (summary, not the official text)

A consent string recording a user's ad-tracking choices is personal data where it can reasonably be linked to an identifier such as an IP address; a sector body that sets binding rules for such strings can be a joint controller even without access to the data, but not automatically for later ad processing by others.

## Official source

- [Case C-604/22 on CURIA](https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-604/22&language=en)
- [Judgment on EUR-Lex (CELEX 62022CJ0604)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62022CJ0604)

Checked against the official source on 28 October 2026.

Only the judgment as published by the Court of Justice is authoritative. This is reference material, not legal advice.

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