“Privacy-first marketing” is simply the principle that browser or martech companies should protect user data as a first priority, above personal self-interest. This personal information can include but is not limited to addresses, phone numbers, emails, and financial information of users. If companies do not follow these principles, they can not only lose customers but will likely face hefty fines if they break privacy laws.

Our CEO Quimby Melton was invited to do an interview with CaliberMind on the impact of privacy-first marketing and how it is changing the way companies view data collection:

There is a lot of confusing information out there about privacy and the shift away from third-party data. I think people use the word 'cookie' as a catch-all word for all the ways we gather data digitally. We need to get more specific because these privacy changes impact more than just browser-level data storage like cookies, trackers, and pixels. To be cookie-free doesn't mean that you're immune from privacy-first disruption.

He goes on to explain how first- and third-party cookies track users across the web to not only store information like login credentials, but to also learn what websites users frequent and how they engage with certain sites. While this can be done ethically by many martech companies, it is increasingly used by malicious entities and done without regard for users’ privacy or data security.

Prior to privacy-first laws and browsers, companies could track users’ movement across the web and use it for better targeting of ads. They did this using third-party cookies, scripts, and trackers. Unlike first-party cookies which store users’ information such as login credentials and shopping cart information, third-party cookies are typically used for data collection to improve marketing efforts. However, misuse of cookies by malicious entities and oversharing of data has made this method of data collection dangerous to users and unfavorable for a company’s reputation.

Privacy-first isn’t just a company’s responsibility, however. It’s something they need to take into consideration when working with martech companies that claim to offer effective data solutions using cookies or other data collection options. Privacy-first browsers block a majority of third-party cookies, pixels, scripts, and trackers. This means that the data collected by third-party cookies is missing 20-25% of users, and is only increasing as privacy-first browsers become more widely accepted.

The Impact on Martech Companies

When martech companies can’t use these third-party cookies, they quickly lose the value of their marketing efforts. Since 2017, these data sources have become increasingly less effective and less trusted by users. It is estimated that when Google phases out support for third-party cookies, nearly 75% of web users will be untraceable using this method. By the 2030’s privacy-first marketing will be the standard, with virtually no online user being traceable using scripts, cookies, or trackers.

This process is being phased out as more users are aware of how their information is being used and misused for self-interest. Melton added in his CaliberMind interview:

"The ways we've collected, stored, and distributed data over the last 30 years was very self-interested and uncoordinated. Human beings don't like or trust the system, and it's also failing technically. We have to ask how can we build a more compliant system that allows this important social resource, namely data, to flow more readily and sustainably for everyone involved, not just the advertisers."

Confection is a part of the forward-thinking transition away from traditional models of data collection and toward a privacy-first solution that protects people and aids marketers in collecting accurate data on users. Our data generator is compliant with global privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD, providing the same information as traditional data generators without the use of invasive scripts and trackers.

We believe that privacy-first marketing doesn’t have to mean less-effective marketing. To learn more about how we’re achieving better data collection in the privacy-first world, schedule a demo by clicking the button below.