A Guide To Digital Marketing Privacy
A Guide To Digital Marketing Privacy And The User
What is Privacy?
Privacy is a right that consumers have against third-party organizations regarding their personal information. Digital privacy is the protection of information on the internet while using the internet privately without leaking or compromising your information. Your consent is a very important principle when regarding data privacy.
Examples of personal information include but are not limited to:
Personal Contact Information (Name, Address, Email Address, Phone Number)
Financial Information (Bank Account Numbers, Credit and Debit Card Numbers)
Usage Details (Cookies, Tracking on websites, App Usage, Time Usage)
Identifiable Information (Date of Birth, IP Address, Driver’s License Number, Social Security Number)
Digital marketing has become creative finding ways to access your information through marketing analytics, algorithms, and tracking. This leads to being aware of the importance of data privacy laws.
Data Protection and Privacy Principles
Lawful and transparent processing
Companies must process consumer data lawfully, fairly, and transparently which means being given consent, is in public interest, a part of a legal obligation or contract, and to protect one’s vital interests
Purpose limitation
Even after users consent to collected data, companies must use the information for specific and legitimate reasons
Data minimization
Just because a company has your data, does not mean they can do whatever they want with it
Your data should be relevant and limited to what is necessary when companies process personal data
Data accuracy
When data is collected, it must be accurate and up to date (if it is not then it must be corrected)
Data retention
Company policies should outline what data they collect, for how long, and why they collect it
Personal data should only be kept to carry out a particular purpose
Data security and confidentiality
When dealing with collecting personal data, companies have a responsibility to protect it especially with the rise of remote working
Two major legislations to know:
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR https://rockcontent.com/blog/gdpr/)
The GDPR outlines how digital marketers collect, store, and use customer data that is collected
Lawful processing of personal data within GDPR requires one of the following: legitimate interest, public interest, consent, contract, vital interest, legal obligation)
California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA https://rockcontent.com/blog/ccpa-vs-gdpr/)
Over the past decade, some world regions have taken this issue very seriously. Laws against data privacy has become more and more strict and those who do not comply will receive public backlash and dealt hefty fines.
Companies and Data Privacy in Action
Companies need to be accountable and they can demonstrate this by having a secured data privacy policy, providing documents for data usage procedures, staying up to date with regulations, and training their relevant employees to make ethical, informed decisions.
Companies need to comply with all data privacy practices and regulations which can be a lot of work but there are large amounts of opportunities around data collection and privacy. Many of today’s users are more than willing to share their personal data and information in exchange for a more personalized user experience. From a research study done by McKinsey & Company, only about one-third (33%) of users believe that companies are using data responsibly. 16% of users would be happy to share their data, 50% would consider sharing their dara, and 34% would be unwilling to share their data. Newer users tend to be more happy to share their data in order to use certain applications or technologies.
Ways to Protect or Maximize your Data Privacy
Secure your accounts
Use a password manager to generate and remember unique and complex passwords instead of using the same and simple passwords including two-step authentication when possible
Protect your web browsing
Using browser extensions such as uBlock Origin to block collecting data and ads.
Using antivirus programs to prevent malware from taking over your browser
Using a privacy badger to block trackers and ads from following you around
Using a VPN (virtual private network)
this is useful if you are connecting to numerous public Wi-Fi and adds an extra layer of security to your web browsing especially when using non HTTPS sites
Opting out of email subscriptions
Blocking notifications
Not accepting cookies from websites
Making sure to read the terms and conditions
Minimizing using apps, websites, and companies that share your data (ex: Google, Instagram, Apple)
Works Cited
Author, Guest. “Customer Data Privacy in Digital Marketing: What You Need to Know.” BenchmarkONE, 25 Aug. 2022, https://www.benchmarkone.com/blog/customer-data-privacy/#:~:text=Data%20privacy%20concerns%20and%20regulations%20are%20changing%20the,while%20abiding%20by%20changing%20expectations%20and%20regulatory%20standards.
Brodherson, Marc, et al. “A Customer-Centric Approach to Marketing in a Privacy-First World.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 20 May 2021, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-customer-centric-approach-to-marketing-in-a-privacy-first-world.
Cury, Cecília, and Guilherme Rezende. “Digital Marketing and Privacy: What Is Changing & How to Keep Up.” Rock Content, 16 May 2022, https://rockcontent.com/blog/digital-marketing-and-privacy/#:~:text=As%20more%20people%20become%20concerned%20that%20digital%20marketers,and%20cannot%20do%20in%20terms%20of%20personal%20privacy.
Cury, Cecília, and Guilherme Rezende. “CCPA vs GDPR: What Is the Difference for Businesses?” Rock Content, 19 July 2021, https://rockcontent.com/blog/ccpa-vs-gdpr/.
Cury, Cecília, and Guilherme Rezende. “What Is GDPR and How It Affects Your Business?” Rock Content, 16 July 2021, https://rockcontent.com/blog/gdpr/.
Klosowski, Thorin. “How to Protect Your Digital Privacy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/guides/privacy-project/how-to-protect-your-digital-privacy.
Normoyle, David. “Data Privacy for Marketers.” Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, 21 June 2022, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/data-privacy-for-marketers.