Hi All,
My name is Martijn, and I’m responsible for commercial activities at Nixon Digital. In my role, I interact with various people in the industry and keep an eye on industry trends. Today, I want to discuss the evolving landscape of the industry, particularly with respect to privacy, and how it has shifted over the past few years towards a world where the disregard for privacy is no longer accepted.
Moving Industry
For those familiar with our work in the industry, you know that our product extends far beyond just focusing on privacy. However, the privacy use-case is one we see more and more often. One of the reasons I like to stay updated on developments in this area. Recent updates, such as those from the Dutch privacy authorities and the industry shift to Google Consent V2, indicate that organizations are beginning to take privacy more seriously—something that, in my opinion, has been neglected for far too long.
Where are we at?
Companies, particularly big tech companies, thrive on the fact that people are often unaware of what is happening with their data. If we just looked at a new vacuum cleaner we want to buy and afterwards see it advertised on Facebook, we might think, “Oh, that’s weird.” But at the same time, we accept it as part of the deal with using the internet. But should we? Marketing means being where the customer is, which makes sense. If the customer wants to be informed about something they are searching for, it’s logical for that information to reach them. This is not where the problem lies. The problem arises when someone who doesn’t want to be retargeted and actively denies consent still gets retargeted. In various studies we have conducted, we found that almost 50% of websites set cookies without obtaining proper consent. This means that, even if you actively deny consent, you may still be retargeted. In conclusion, even if we don’t want companies to collect our data for marketing purposes, it still happens, which is obviously problematic.
Are you aware of this?
While some companies are conscious about data collection, many collect data without being fully aware of it. A common situation occurs when a company implements a consent banner and expects it to work, only to find that it’s not configured properly, resulting in privacy violations (against GDPR regulations). There are two ways to look at this: one, the company can’t help it because they at least tried to implement a consent banner; or two, the company is responsible for the data collected from visitors to their website, so they need to ensure proper configuration. Additionally, the collected data often does not benefit the website owner but goes to third parties running technologies on the website. Thus, as a company or website owner, you are not gaining anything from this.
How can you prevent this?
First of all, there is the possibility to manually check which cookies are being set on your website. Then, you can verify if your cookie banner is blocking these cookies and take action accordingly. If you manage one or two websites and have someone with expertise, this can be manageable. However, if you have multiple websites, this can become quite challenging. With platforms like Nixon Digital, you can gain comprehensive insights into how cookies are set across your entire portfolio and whether your cookie banner is blocking them. As an official partner of OneTrust, Nixon Digital can also implement OneTrust consent banners in a GDPR-compliant manner.
Want to know more?
I would be more than happy to review your website portfolio. With a quick scan I can immediately check what is out there (and more). Also, I would be more than happy to have a chat, to discuss what we could do for you. Send me a message to martijn@nixon.nl or send a message on LinkedIn.