Shift Your Tracking Mindset to Privacy-First

The future of digital analytics will be privacy-first. Part of delivering a human-centered experience is caring for a user’s data privacy, which entails the proper handling (collection, sharing, and use) of their data. 

Gone are the days where marketers and advertisers can freely benefit from consumer data without permission. Consumers are becoming more aware of the marketing and advertising tactics that serve up their digital content online via search engines, websites, social media, and other online channels. This heightened awareness is leading to more public concern and demand for safeguards. 

Naturally, people are worried about their privacy and how their data is being used to target them. As a result, more data regulation and standardization is becoming routine in the tools and technology we, as content publishers and marketers, depend on today.

We recommend all site owners and advertisers take a privacy-first approach to your data collection and usage to build trust and strong relationships with your consumers. This will set you up for success as legislatures release new data privacy regulations and big tech companies overhaul their tracking protocols to provide more transparency for consumers. 

As a rule of thumb, all websites should be asking site visitors for cookie consent while providing a detailed and transparent privacy policy page to meet data privacy standards and best practices. You’ll likely need to employ a consent management platform (CMP), like OneTrust, as part of your tech stack to help you manage this effort. 

Minimally, you should familiarize yourself with some of the common data privacy laws in force today and act in accordance with any laws regulating your marketplace. For instance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impacts businesses operating in the EU market and multiple state-based laws impact businesses operating in the U.S. market: 

• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
• Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA)
• Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)
• Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA)

The future of measurement will likely be determined by data privacy laws and regulations. Additionally, we expect new standards and best practices to be introduced by other legislators or large technology companies in the coming months. 

For instance, in GA4, data privacy controls are now activated by default and are no longer optional for website managers to toggle on or off. In response to the growing pressure and public scrutiny in the media, Google launched its own Privacy Sandbox back in 2020 to help build new internet privacy standards for web and app tracking. Companies like Google are having to shift their tracking mindset to privacy-first and so should you.

Data privacy will undoubtedly impact how you track consumer data in the future, so we recommend you stay abreast of the latest privacy developments and get a data governance plan in place sooner than later.

We hope you enjoyed reading the Phase2 blog! Please subscribe below for regular updates and industry insights.