Privacy, one of the most widely debated topics in recent years and the focus of many discussions featuring phrases such as “they’re spying on us”, “they’re listening to me”, “you should cover your webcam with black tape!”.
These claims arise because ads for the latest vacuum cleaner model they have just searched for online appear everywhere: social media feeds, web pages and so on, as if in an episode of Black Mirror (anyone who has seen season six will easily understand which episode we are referring to).
It should be clear to everyone that this is not industrial espionage, not least because the phones many of us use do not contain particularly interesting material.
It is all down to the familiar cookies, the first button clicked on most websites and a cornerstone of effective “digital marketing”.
But the picture is not so straightforward. There is a whole group of professionals who receive little attention unless their roles and responsibilities are understood: marketers, whose challenges have increased considerably since we have been able to speak of “measurable marketing”.
A profession in constant conflict. On the one hand, marketers have to deal with data protection officers who reject any form of tracking, including technical cookies used to save preferences; on the other, they risk encountering insecure tracking of “anonymised” users.
As you can see, in a world increasingly focused on safeguarding online privacy, the most obvious question is:
is there still hope for us marketers?
Our task today is to help you better understand how to navigate this hybrid world, spanning technology and creativity, developers and creative directors.
Let us therefore take a moment to examine the past and imagine the future.
web tracking and privacyFarewell to Privacy: data collection within everyone's reach
With the proliferation of tracking technologies, targeting and retargeting have become the norm.
The term targeting refers to the strategy of identifying and reaching a specific audience aligned with the service or product being promoted, while retargeting is a form of targeting aimed at reaching users who have already interacted with a brand or website, in order to maintain their interest and increase the likelihood of conversion.
There are currently more than 5 billion users online, and most of their actions are tracked anonymously and with their consent. It is not difficult to imagine the amount of data collected every day; understanding how this all happens is more complex.
This does not apply only to contact forms or registrations: every page scroll, click, on-screen view or response to messages, every action taken on a web browser or mobile application can be tracked (including the use of hardware such as the camera and microphone).
Have you ever heard of Google Tag Manager? It is a tool that allows you to manage tracking tags centrally and simply. These “tracking tags” represent all the events described above.
But to what extent is anonymity guaranteed? This depends on a series of regulations designed to protect privacy online that have been in place since the 1980s.
GDPR
Web Tracking Regulations
The first line of defence for online privacy is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which introduced new rules to protect users: from obligations concerning privacy notices, to authorisations, consent, and the regulation of data tracking.
Following the publication of the GDPR, it became essential for companies to standardise their processes and adopt transparent measures to protect their users’ privacy.
This change took place within a very short period and resulted in fines and penalties for those who did not act quickly to adopt a cookie policy.
Can we consider 25 May 2018 the “millennium bug” of cookie bars?
Amid last-minute updates and implementations that did not work, everyone came to understand the importance of protecting their users’ data.
New cookie bars: creative and precise solutions
Let us take a step back to ensure that none of our readers are left behind.
What do we mean by cookies and a cookie bar? When we talk about cookies, we mean small snippets of code that are stored on the user’s device while they browse, in order to collect information about their activity and provide an experience that is as tailored as possible.
A “cookie bar”, on the other hand, refers to the notifications or banners that appear on websites to inform users about the use of cookies: you will all have ticked at least ten of them in the last two weeks alone.
The emergence of “cookie bars” has been a rather interesting phenomenon, giving rise to some truly experiences worthy of note.
A look at these websites will give you an idea.
Creative solutions
• Moooi.com: where design turns cookie consent into an immersive experience.
• Declamatuus.fr: his name is Spy Pharaoh, and he is the central figure in an intriguing experience that is perfectly aligned with the brand’s communications.
Precise Solutions
- FIFA.com: let’s put it this way: awarding a penalty in a Champions League final is easier than understanding how cookies are managed on their website.
Today, all websites subject to the GDPR are, at least on the face of it, compliant with its requirements. But as we know, there is often a gap between words and actions, and in this case there is also a considerable amount of technical detail that any good marketer needs to understand.
Cookies and privacy: the new challenge for optimisation
As attention to online privacy has increased, large IT companies have faced a new challenge: reconfiguring algorithms. This challenge is shared by their marketing colleagues, who in turn have to manage greater complexity in tracking trends.
It is clear that, in a context with many variables, data is more crucial than ever. It is now essential both to measure the performance of processes (using the indicators known as KPI) and to optimise strategies.
La tecnica vuole la sua parte. Implementare soluzioni di tracciamento server side, spostando la raccolta e l’elaborazione dei dati direttamente sui propri server anziché affidarsi a terze parti, aiuterà a migliorare la sicurezza e garantirne la conformità.
It is also essential to incorporate the concept of “privacy by design”, which means implementing data protection from the outset in the development of marketing strategies. This ensures more effective management of users’ personal data and greater compliance with regulations.
These are issues for which there are no simple or definitive answers. However, there is training, practice and knowledge of the subject. In addressing day-to-day challenges, our role is to support our clients on a case-by-case basis, providing them with effective solutions that align as closely as possible with their values and ways of working.
There are related areas that we have only touched on and would like to explore in greater depth.
What would you like to read about in the next article?
- Cybersecurity?
- Ethical implications of data use?
- Privacy by design and privacy engineering?
