The Trade Desk (UID2)

The Trade Desk built Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) as the industry's 'privacy-safe' replacement for third-party cookies, but UID2 is built from hashed email addresses and phone numbers — data that identifies a real person — and the FTC said in 2024 that hashing does not make data anonymous (as reported by AdExchanger). Two class actions filed in C.D. Cal. on March 31, 2025 allege the company is 'secretly harvesting and monetizing directly identifiable user data' via UID2, partly under the California Invasion of Privacy Act; per AdExchanger they were consolidated and a motion to dismiss was pending as of late September 2025. No ruling or settlement verified this pass. The Trade Desk's own privacy policy says the data it processes can include inferred demographics that may reveal health, sexual orientation or religion, and precise geolocation.

• Severity
• Evidence tierUnassigned
• Claims confirmed
• Last verified2026-10-16

Case status. Private litigation; the legal tier of its sources has not been assigned yet.

Primary source. www.adexchanger.com/data-privacy-roundup/putting-uid2-under-the-legal-microscope — Unverified - heuristic first draft.

Arbitration

Not applicable to consumers — no consumer-facing contract.

Data sharing

Collects pseudonymous IDs incl. hashed email/phone-derived IDs, IP, device data, ad impressions, inferred interest/demographic data (policy flags some may reveal health, sexual orientation or religion), and possibly precise geolocation. Policy says some activities 'may be considered sales or sharing'. Pending consolidated class action alleges UID2 tracks consumers and profiles them without consent.

Contacts

Privacy contact. dpo@thetradedesk.com; The Trade Desk, Global Privacy Office, Attn: Global DPO, 42 N. Chestnut St., Ventura, CA 93001; opt-out at adsrvr.org

Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State registered agent in the state of incorporation must accept service. Privacy policy lists global HQ: 42 N. Chestnut St., Ventura, CA 93001.

Mailing address. Not recorded.