New research from Deloitte has raised serious questions about the public’s attitude towards how businesses use consumer data and the overall effectiveness of digital advertising.
The Deloitte Australian Privacy Index 2021 interviewed more than 1,000 Australians about their attitudes towards privacy and analysed the websites of 50 leading consumer brands.
Despite the fact third-party cookies are set to be deprecated on Google Chrome in the next year, the research shows there is still a significant degree of hesitation from the public about how these cookies collect and share their information.
According to the study, 85 per cent of people are concerned about internet cookies that track their activity online to sell to other companies, while 71 per cent said they were concerned when seeing online ads for a product or service shortly after discussing the product near their device or saerching for the product.
While the data shows the public now has high expectations when it comes to privacy, there is an opportunity for brands to meet these demands.
The right to erasure/right to be forgotten – which exists in some jurisdictions around the world – would seemingly be welcomed in the Australian market, with 79 per cent of respondents revealing they would use it if it was made available.
“They want brands to be more transparent,” said Deloitte National Privacy and Data Protection Lead Partner, Daniella Kafouris.
“They want brands to support, for example, their ‘right to be forgotten’, to not have cookies track their online activities, and to be be able to better undertand a business’s use of AI when it comes to online interactions.”
Targeted ads going unnoticed
The data also brings the effectiveness of data-driven advertising into question.
According to the research, 82 per cent of shoppers ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ buy something after receiving an ad for it online.
Additionally, 65 per cent of consumers said they were unhappy about recieving targeted ads based on their online browsing history.
“Consumers who are concerned about cookies that track their online activity also don’t engage targeted ads,” said Deloitte in the report.
