It’s not an exact like-for-like: Platforms don’t make or change policy on how publishers collect or use data directly from their users. Google’s decision to not build alternate identifiers to track individuals relates to its own products. But Google and Apple’s dominant market positions do mean when they make changes, they cause tidal waves across the rest of the digital advertising supply chain.

And so unlike GDPR or CCPA, which involve compliance with legal, rather than just technical frameworks, the moves Google and Apple are about to make will cause immediate shockwaves the day they are implemented.

There isn’t much choice but to fall in line.

“We’re barnacles on the whale,” said Bob Regular, CEO of Infolinks. “If you measure us all relative to Google or Apple — sometimes they aren’t even aware we’re there. They may be happy to let us feed from them, but if they make a move and then we fall off, they’re indifferent.”

In the U.S. the lack of federal privacy law has left the door wide open for Google and Apple to call the shots, according to Regular. “Currently we’re moving toward states-rights-level privacy. It’s untenable — you can’t build plumbing at a state level, we need a federal version. And at the moment the first [federal attempt] is Apple and Google. They’ve taken the lead on what they say is the right solution — for right or wrong,” he said.

Traditional regulators’ methods aren’t perfect either. When regulatory change is announced businesses are left to interpret the new legal requirements and adapt their business models as they see fit. The result can be messy, confusing, and lead to numerous attempts to flout or circumvent the rules — as seen with the response to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation which went into effect in 2018 after a two-year grace period.

What’s more, the intent of GDPR — to give users back more control over their personal data and ensure it’s not misused by hidden players in the digital advertising ecosystem — has resulted in a horribly confusing, annoying user experience in Europe, with every website featuring their own pop-up messages requesting consent for collecting data. Privacy activists believe regulators have failed to properly enforce the law at scale. “One of the issues around regulations is the incredible lack of active and at-scale enforcement,” said Ruben Schruers, group chief product officer at media investment analysis firm Ebiquity. “Essentially so far, the regulations are all bark and no bite.”

The privacy-led changes driven by platforms Apple and Google are all bite. Plus, they are binary — not open to interpretation. Naturally, that results in people questioning whether this biting behavior is fair and the underlying reasons are honest or have a double agenda, added Schruers.

Preparing …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron