TC String not being decoded.

[Tony Weston]

Hello All, 

I am tasked with putting ads at the start of some of the weather forecast videos we host via Bloomreach.

However, we currently see errors to do with the TC string in the console, when a video is played and while running in debug mode.  I have stepped debug as deep as I can into  ima3_debug.js, up until the lines below, which throws an error with the coreString I am passing.

module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcfCoreStringCodec.decode = function(coreString) { try { var bitString = goog.crypt.base64.decodeStringToByteArray(coreString).map(function(byte) { return byte.toString(2).padStart(8, "0"); }).join(""), tcDecoder = new module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcDecoder(bitString); return (new proto.contentads.shared.ad_tech.iab_tcf_v2.TcfCoreString).setVersion(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.VERSION_FIELD_LENGTH)).setCreated(tcDecoder.decodeTimestamp()).setLastUpdated(tcDecoder.decodeTimestamp()).setConsentManagementPlatformId(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.CMP_ID_FIELD_LENGTH)).setConsentManagementPlatformVersion(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.CMP_VERSION_FIELD_LENGTH)).setConsentScreen(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.CONSENT_SCREEN_FIELD_LENGTH)).setConsentLanguage(tcDecoder.decodeTwoLetterIsoCode()).setVendorListVersion(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.VENDOR_LIST_VERSION_FIELD_LENGTH)).setTcfPolicyVersion(tcDecoder.decodeInt(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.TCF_POLICY_VERSION_FIELD_LENGTH)).setIsServiceSpecific(tcDecoder.decodeBool()).setUseNonStandardStacks(tcDecoder.decodeBool()).setSpecialFeatureOptInsList(tcDecoder.decodeBitfield(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.SPECIAL_FEATURE_OPT_INS_FIELD_LENGTH, module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.ENUM_IAB_TCF_SPECIAL_FEATURE_VALUES)).setPurposesConsentList(tcDecoder.decodeBitfield(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.PURPOSES_CONSENT_FIELD_LENGTH, module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.ENUM_IAB_TCF_PURPOSE_VALUES)).setPurposesLegitimateInterestTransparencyList(tcDecoder.decodeBitfield(module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.PURPOSES_LEGITIMATE_INTEREST_TRANSPARENCY_FIELD_LENGTH, module$exports$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcStringConstants.ENUM_IAB_TCF_PURPOSE_VALUES)).setPurposeOneTreatment(tcDecoder.decodeBool()).setPublisherCountryCode(tcDecoder.decodeTwoLetterIsoCode()).setVendorsWithConsentList(tcDecoder.decodeVendorIds()).setVendorsWithLegitimateInterestTransparencyList(tcDecoder.decodeVendorIds()).setPublisherRestrictionsList(tcDecoder.decodePublisherRestrictions()); } catch (e) { return goog.log.error(module$contents$contentads$shared$adtech$iabtcfv2$js$TcfCoreStringCodec_logger, "Failed to decode core string: " + e.message), null; } };

The core string that I see passed in is as follows.

CPBGOaFPBGOaFEDAJBENBLCuAP_AAH_AAAwIHTNf_X_fb3_j-_59__t0eY1f9_7_v-0zjheds-8Nyf_X_L8X_2M7vF36pr4KuR4ku3bBIQdtHOncTUmx6olVrTPsbk2Mr7NKJ7PEmnsbe2dYGH9_n9XT_ZKZ79_v___7________7_______3_v_____-_____A6Zr_6_77e_8f3_Pv_9ujzGr_v_f9_2mccLztn3huT_6_5fi_-xnd4u_VNfBVyPEl27YJCDto507iak2PVEqtaZ9jcmxlfZpRPZ4k09jb2zrAw_v8_q6f7JTPfv9____f________f______-_9______3____4AA

This string validates and decodes fine in the following online decoders:

https://www.consentstringdecoder.com/
https://consentstring.io/

Also, using the Java parser from here:

https://github.com/audienceproject/tcf-parser-java 

I think its possibly a bug in your tc_string decoder,  but, maybe I am doing something wrong?
Thanks.

Tony Weston
Snr Developer
The UK Meteorological Office
Exeter, UK.

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tony,

I tried parsing your TCF example string and got different results from different parsers. For us to investigate further, could you send via "Reply to author" a web address where the TCF string is being created by a CMP with steps to have the error occur? We would also suggest you reach out to your CMP with this information. Alternatively, you may send us the web page via our testing alias imate...@gmail.com with a post on this thread once you have done so.

Regards,

Aryeh Baker IMA SDK Team

ref:_00D1U1174p._5004Q2CSto6:ref

[Tony Weston]

I have emailed the testing alias above, with the details you need.

Thanks you,

Tony Weston.

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tony,

Thank you for the replication steps you sent me privately. I raised this with the rest of my team and will update you as soon as we have more information.

[IMA SDK]

Hi Tony,

After reviewing your TCF string, my team came to this conclusion:

This TC string gives us:

                "specialFeatureOptins": {
                        "1": true,
                        "2": true,
                        "3": true
                },

However, per https://iabeurope.eu/iab-europe-transparency-consent-framework-policies/#___D_Special_Features__ - there is no special feature with ID #3. So this TC string is malformed and the SDK is working as intended.

[Tony Weston]

Thank you for your time and help with this.  I have passed this information back to our CMP providers.

Best regards,

Tony Weston.