State regulations concerning data privacy are on the rise and the trend shows no signs of stopping. With 11 states already enacting privacy laws and 26 more introducing comprehensive privacy legislation, compliance is becoming increasingly important.
The hurdle of sensitive data
The problem is clear: Each state’s regulations are unique, making compliance a complex task.
Specifically, one major challenge in navigating state privacy regulations is the varying definitions of sensitive data. What may be considered sensitive data in one state may not be in another. For example, some states may classify ethnicity linked to a consumer as sensitive data, while others may consider data sensitive only if it’s sourced from models and doesn’t use opt-out methodologies.
To effectively navigate these evolving regulations, here are three things you should keep in mind:
Expansion of consumer disclosures and opt-out policies: The new regulations may require you to provide more detailed disclosures to consumers and allow them the option to opt out of certain data collection practices.
Restrictions on audience targeting: State regulations may dictate what is permissible when it comes to audience targeting, impacting your ability to reach your desired target audience effectively.
Verticals most affected by recent regulations: The healthcare sector is likely to be significantly impacted by these new privacy laws.
More legislation is on the way, each with different definitions of personal and sensitive information. It’s essential to be proactive to stay compliant so that you can continue to reach your target audience. Start by embracing geographic targeting, as innovations in this space enable more precise targeting methodologies powered by data.
Adapt to regulations with geotargeting
Geotargeting is a staple of the industry and serves many relevant purposes such as billboards and over-the-air broadcasting. With recent trends in privacy, Experian has seen many brands explore geotargeting within digital and CTV advertising. This is a clear indicator that there will be a shift in geographic targeting technologies that will enable more precise targeting methodologies powered by data.
While broad geographies have traditionally been the norm, there is now an opportunity to use narrower and innovative geographic approaches. For instance, overlaying common demographic and behavioral attributes into geographic regions, not only offers better differentiation and insight into consumers’ behaviors but also naturally offers a solution to expand the reach of a brand’s target audience. This allows the brand to reach consumers and households who are more likely to look like their ideal customer.
Indexing geographic regions based on common attributes can help reach your audience while balancing data privacy and accuracy, and geo-indexing technologies do just that. They identify regions that over-index for a common set of attributes and provide the ability to deliver on persistent identifiers.
Geo-indexed technologies can ensure your audiences remain addressable, expand audience reach and can be sent for activation. For example, if a retail brand wanted to reach families with young children, without using any sensitive personal information, it could use geo-indexed audiences to reach households in regions that over-index for the likelihood of having children ages 0 to 9 years old living in the household.
Moving forward with geographic audiences, here are three things to consider:
Sourcing geographic audiences: With varying restrictions by state, some may block the usage of personal information in audience sourcing, even if used to inform an audience model. This means that broader non-personal information is best suited to ensure audience viability.
Building geographic audiences: To ensure that audiences remain available with new legislation and industry trends, it is important to not only understand how the provider sources their data for their geographic audiences but also how they assign attributes to each region for effective targeting.
Activating geographic audiences in the market: Not all activation platforms have geographic capabilities integrated into their technologies. This means that the data provider must be able to translate their audiences into identifiers the activation platforms can execute on.
The future of privacy-safe marketing
The increasing prevalence of state privacy regulations necessitates marketers to adapt their strategies. Experian predicts that over the next year, you will begin to see innovations in geotargeting methodologies that satisfy the industry’s need for audience targeting with responsible data strategies.
By embracing innovations in geotargeting and adhering to responsible data strategies, you can comply with these laws while also continuing to reach your intended audiences effectively.
