Internet and mobile privacy are incredibly important to people. So much so that there have been big lawsuits with tech companies and government crackdowns. Most notably in the last few years, European governments have introduced new laws such as the GDPR on what can and cannot be tracked, and what sort of notifications must be shown regarding what websites and apps are tracking and doing with your data.
Google has announced new privacy initiatives and that in response to global privacy initiatives and consumer feedback, they are working toward third-party cookie tracking from their Chrome browser in 2022 and building a “privacy sandbox” for both Chrome and ads.
Apple in particular is now drawing a line in the sand in regards to mobile tracking with their latest iPhone iOS 14 update making sure you know what is being tracked and allowing users to opt out or block sites and apps from tracking them. See commercial video below:
If you’ve been working in Facebook or Google Ads lately you may have noticed banners in your dashboard alerting you to tracking changes upcoming for iOS 14 and what must be done with your ads to stay compliant.
As marketers, we love to target potential customers based on all sorts of data points, and every new advancement leads to new possibilities, but at what point does it become creepy and invasive to people’s privacy? That depends on the person, but ultimately you should know what is right and some tech industry leaders are pre-emptively putting in their own safeguards for users to decide themselves because ultimately their users want more privacy or at the very least the knowledge of what third parties are tracking about them. And better to be proactive about this than have governments make laws and impose fines.
So at Martin & Company, we’re constantly monitoring these developments and their implications for our clients to develop the best strategy to find, reach, and engage with new and existing customers by using the latest research, best practices, while respecting and staying within the limits of the moral, ethical and legal compliance expectations of the day. Contact us if you have any questions on this subject or other traditional marketing needs.
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