In the early days of digital marketing, the landscape resembled the Wild West—lawless and unrestrained, with consumer privacy often overlooked in the rush to harness the power of personal data for advertising. Marketers prized the ability to target consumers with unprecedented precision, leveraging everything from browsing histories to purchasing behaviours. Personal details were bought, sold, and traded with scant oversight. During this period, a sizeable portion of consumers remained largely unaware of how much their data was being used. Today, however, digital marketing is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by increasing regulation and growing consumer demand for privacy.
What is consumer privacy?
Consumer privacy refers to the protection and ethical handling of personal information that individuals share online, either knowingly or unknowingly, as they engage with various digital platforms and services. This includes data such as browsing history, location details, purchasing habits, and even personal identifiers like email addresses and phone numbers.
In digital advertising, this data is often used to create targeted advertising campaigns that are personalised to the user’s behaviours and preferences. Ensuring consumer privacy means implementing measures to protect this data from unauthorised access and misuse, maintaining transparency about data collection processes, and giving consumers control over their own information.
Drivers for increased customer data privacy and protection
Governments worldwide are stepping up efforts to shore up consumer privacy and consumer data protection with laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States, and the Personal Data Protection Law in Saudi Arabia, Personal Data Protection (“PDP Law”) in Indonesia. These regulations impose strict penalties for non-compliance and empower consumers to take charge of their personal data, fundamentally altering the way companies collect, store, and process consumer information.
Alongside regulatory changes, there is a noticeable shift in consumer awareness and attitudes towards privacy. Recent surveys indicate that most consumers are more concerned about their online privacy than ever before. Recent research by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), for example found that 68% of consumers globally are either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy online. The research found that in the space of one year 85% of consumers had deleted a phone app, 82% opted out of sharing personal data, 78% avoided a particular website, and 67% decided against making an online purchase due to privacy concerns.
Advocates for consumer privacy
Consumers and regulators are not alone in pushing for a privacy-centric internet. In recent years, a wide range of non-profits, lobbying groups, brands, and tech companies have made giant strides forward in making the internet a safer and more ethical place for consumers and advertisers alike.
The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) is a case in point. The world’s largest and most comprehensive global information privacy community and resource, the IAPP helps professionals manage privacy risks and navigate complex data protection regulations.
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) is another notable example. This non-profit organisation aims to catalyse privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices in support of emerging technologies. The FPF brings together industry, academics, consumer advocates, and other thought leaders to explore the challenges posed by technological innovation and develop privacy protections, ethical norms, and workable business practices.
Other organisations are looking to hold companies to account for breaches of consumer privacy or customer data protection laws. noyb, for example, brings best practices from consumer rights groups, privacy activists, hackers, and legal tech initiatives to bear in litigating privacy cases. Its work has led to a €1.2 billion fine for Meta over EU-US data transfers, €395 million in fines for various violations of GDPR on Meta’s platform, and a €50 million fine for Google over forced consent.
The changing technology landscape
Of course, tech companies are not always the bad guys. In fact, many are helping to make the internet more private and consumer centric. Apple is a leader in this field. One of its most important initiatives was the introduction of App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5. The feature requires apps to obtain explicit user permission before tracking their activities across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising purposes. This gives users more control over their data and significantly limits the amount of personal information advertisers can access.
However, consumers don’t only want their privacy protected online. Poll after poll shows that most people also want access to relevant, personalised experiences and ad-funded content. Adtech leaders are responding to this demand by creating new ways for brands to reach the right audiences online with tailored content, but without breaching their privacy.
Novatiq’s own telco-verified IDs are a prime example. Using our consented IDs, brands and publishers can resolve user identities across the open web without having to identify individuals and deliver personalised experiences without having to transact their personal data. The approach means that publishers can continue to attract premium ad revenue and provide free content, while ensuring that marketing content delivered by brands is privacy-by-design and relevant to users.
Consumer privacy is the future of the internet
Much has changed since brands first started advertising online. Technology has improved dramatically and is helping better protect consumers while maintaining the fundamental value-exchange that lies at the heart of the open web. The Wild West has gone for good. In its place we can look forward to a well-regulated internet that’s safer for all and ultimately more prosperous.
Interested in how these shifts are influencing digital marketing strategies in key global markets? Check out three digital marketing trends to watch in the US
