Integral Ad Science (IAS) has surveyed over 500 consumers in Australia about online data collection, data privacy, and targeted advertising to understand how they perceive data privacy and digital advertising practices amid growing privacy legislations.

Consumers are spending more time online than ever and more time browsing means more opportunities to collect data and consumers know it: 85 per cent of consumers in Australia say they’re aware that websites and apps collect and share their data for advertising purposes.

Despite 92 per cent being concerned about their privacy, most consumers are generally unaware of existing consumer privacy legislation, such as the ACCC, CCPA and GDPR. This means that they lack information about the types of data that websites and apps are allowed to collect and what advertisers are allowed to do with that data.

56 per cent of Australia consumers hold themselves most accountable for keeping their personal information secure and are starting to take action to help limit online data collection, with 68 per cent clearing/deleting their browser history. Only 34 per cent of consumers depend on websites and apps they are using for data protection and a dismal 9 per cent put their trust in government bodies to secure their privacy.

When it comes to targeting preferences, almost half of consumers have voted for relevancy in targeting, reporting that they are receptive to some form of contextual targeting (ads relevant to the content of the site you are on and/or the content you are currently consuming).

With the deprecation of cookies underway, behavioural targeting (ads based on what someone has previously purchased online and/or their recent browsing and search history) will no longer be possible and contextual targeting will become a proxy for audience data.

The majority of Australia consumers report they are willing to share personal data with shopping (53 per cent) and social media (49 per cent) apps/websites for a more relevant and personalised ad experience.

“The combination of consumer privacy laws and the cookie clampdown is driving advertisers to flock back to contextual targeting and at IAS we help them do contextual with precision and at scale”, said IAS country manager Jessica Miles.

“Contextual solutions are respectful of consumer preferences while still delivering the impact and efficiency that drive results.”