Tired Of Hearing About Data Privacy? Cover Your Ears, Marketers

First it was the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, then it was the California Consumer Privacy Act.

And with many tipping the Australian government to update the existing Privacy Act following the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry, privacy looks set to a hot topic again for marketers in 2020.

Speaking with B&T, Shobhit Shukla, co-founder and chief revenue officer of location-based marketing company Near, shared some advice for marketers looking to navigate these challenges.

“Companies will need to integrate privacy-safe programmes and consumer consent for all data usage will develop as a practice for data sharing,” he said.

“However, implementation of privacy safe processes and technology will continue to attract the spotlight as different scenarios of breaches and inappropriate data use continue to occur across industries.”

With marketers no doubt growing tired of hearing about the importance of privacy and data protection, the question now becomes – what’s different this time around?

Changes to the regulatory landscape mean marketers now need to reassess whether or not their long term strategy is viable, according to Shukla.

“Marketers have to figure out what the implications of the potential policy changes are and its short term and long term impact,” he said.

“Furthermore, they need to work closely with their vendors to see what policy changes can be delivered via tech at scale and those that require major changes in the ad tech ecosystem. Being privacy-aware is only the first, but embedding privacy-related awareness in all business processes is a complex task.”

Who wins?

It has previously been stated there will be ‘winners and losers’ in the global shift towards privacy and better data controls.

While these sweeping regulatory changes are largely aimed at the likes of Google and Facebook, it is these companies that are the most well-resourced to navigate any potential challenges.

In some instances, it has even been suggested GDPR will advance the duopoly of Google and Facebook, with smaller companies being the ones that suffer.

“The impact [on Facebook and Google] will be minimal, as large industry players have the capability to integrate privacy and data security requirements as per legal changes,” Shukla said.

“With the changing landscape, it is clear that privacy cannot be an afterthought and data-driven businesses will need to build a privacy-safe ecosystem to remain afloat.”

But with the tracking cookie fast falling out of favour (Google this year introduced tools to block third-party cookies on Chrome), not everyone is safe in a post-GDPR world.

“Conversations are now focusing on the ‘cookie-law’ which will change how browsing cookies can be deployed. The extent of impact has the potential to affect ad-revenue-dependent companies is yet to be studied, said Shukla.

“With such laws, we will see companies being transparent with consumers regarding the purpose of data usage, and hopefully we will see a behavioural change among consumers towards information sharing.”

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