“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.
Today’s column is written by Carolina Abenante, co-founder of NYIAX.
This year, the Federal Trade Commission and Kochava, a mobile measurement company, initiated lawsuits against each other over the practice of selling location data.
At the heart of the issue are “precise data” and “sensitive data,” as they relate to individuals and consent.
This is a landmark battle in the long war over data privacy regulations. But regardless of how this particular case turns out, the digital marketing industry needs clearer standards for the collection, exchange and use of consumer data.
Drawing the line
Ideally, regulators – and, better yet, Congress – will ultimately set clear data privacy guidelines. In the absence of that, the marketing industry needs to come together and create standards.
Whether it’s through existing trade organizations like the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies or a new body, the digital marketing industry needs to police itself.
Without such action, digital marketing will remain a Wild West that does a disservice to marketing technology companies, brands and consumers.
If the status quo persists, relatively small companies will occasionally face legal action. Brands will take reputational hits due to a lack of clarity on standards. And consumers will continue to suffer from a lack of insight into who’s using their data and how.
What privacy standards should cover
With clear industry-wide standards, data providers and technology companies can agree and adopt best practices. A certification system can be developed to verify those practices. Brands can avoid reputational damage, and consumers can get more control over how businesses use their data.
The next question is what those standards should cover. For example, rules already exist for protecting children’s information. But many other kinds of data and practices relating to data are unregulated.
One likely focus of future standards is sensitive information. The industry needs to define what constitutes sensitive data – for example, mobility data pertaining to health care clinics or places of worship – and when it is acceptable to collect, store and exchange that information.
Another is vulnerable communities. What is a vulnerable community, and what special care do businesses need to take to protect these groups when asking them for data or sharing it?
A third example is consent. Frameworks are emerging, but there is not yet an adequate methodology, much less a national or global standard, to allow consumers to easily signal what data they are willing to share and for what purposes. There’s also no way for businesses to access those consent signals.
Where data privacy is heading
Conversations about data privacy and consumer empowerment in digital advertising have intensified over the past few years, as states and nations pass privacy laws and attention to data transactions heats up. As a result, many in the industry have articulated the best practices that companies should follow.
But we need to wake up from the dream that, in the absence of clear government regulations, businesses are going to adhere to the guidelines outlined by individual thought leaders.
Digital advertising needs its own set of privacy standards and a system to reward those who follow them while identifying rogues. Otherwise, we’re doomed to repeat a situation in which murky practices persist without a structural solution to which companies can adapt and from which consumers benefit.
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