As we near year’s end it’s common to reflect upon the last year and plan for the future. Today we join that tradition with a look about what you should be aware of as the clock turns and says good bye to 2021.
Consent
Consent is changing in the new year.
The Transparency and Consent Framework is under fire
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties reports that IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF2.0) has in a draft ruling found to be unlawful under Europe’s General Data Protection Legislation (GDPR). IAB Europe’s stance can be found in their press release.
I am not a lawyer – but this is my take on the scenario.
Should the draft ruling become final, IAB Europe will need to reconsider how TCF works at a core level. I suspect brands employing TCF as their basis for consent in the Europe Economic Area may face increased liability for being in violation of GDPR and thus advise discussing the impact of a adverse ruling and what that means for consent in Europe with legal representation.
Brands should be ready to adopt (perhaps rapidly) an alterative consent mechanism pending on the outcome of the draft decision and any possible court battles. If you haven’t already adopted TCF2.0, you may want to hold off until the above is resolved one way or the other.
Android consent changes go into effect
As I previously discussed, Android is changing some of their core data collection mechanics on April 1st, 2022. Any brand using an Android mobile app on Google Play will need to comply with the new requirements to remain in compliance with store policy.
Notably this requires in app disclosures of data collection prior to collection. You will no longer be able to direct users outside of the app to a webpage to review the material. The policy can not be buried in the Terms of Service and it can not be bundled with other disclosures not related to data collection.
The policies also change the definition of consent and specifically list various dark patterns which do not qualify for consent. Any app which collects data should review this policies and make the required updates ahead of the April 1st enforcement.
It remains to be seen if the impact to advertising will be as severe as App Tracking Transparency was to the iOS ecosystem in April of 2021. I expect some impact, and marketers will need to get used to working with less data across both Android and iOS going forward.
Marketing
Facebook changes targeting rules
On January 19th 2022, Facebook will be deploying changes to the detailed targeting system for advertisement.
The following Detailed Targeting options will be removed:
- Health causes (e.g., “Lung cancer awareness”, “World Diabetes Day”, “Chemotherapy”)
- Sexual orientation (e.g., “same-sex marriage” and “LGBT culture”)
- Religious practices and groups (e.g., “Catholic Church” and “Jewish holidays”)
- Political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations, and figures
Marketers who use these types of targeting criteria will need to rethink their marketing plan going forward. Facebook suggests using lookalike audiences or lists based on 1st party data (such as email address).
Personally, I suspect this will force many brands into more general targeting strategies, which ultimately may result in increased ad cost as there will be more competition in the more generic keywords. So I consider increased cost for less return on investment a very real possibility in the new year for some industries.
Twitter changes usage policies
If your brand posts media containing people to Twitter, then you must take notice of this next warning.
Twitter has updated their private information policy to include requiring consent of people prior to posting media containing that person. This applies to most general cases, but exceptions do exist for public figures or individuals when media and the related Tweet text are shared in public interest or add value to public discourse.
It is strongly recommended that brands review their social media posting polices to avoid being found in violation and possibly having content removed.
LinkedIn Advertising embraces privacy
If you are a recruiter or marketer, you may want to pay close attention to this next section.
LinkedIn has a array of changes for Business to Business advertising come to advertisers. You can read the writeup here. Please note that if you use the LinkedIn Insight tag you may have settings which need adjustment to take advantage of these changes.
It should be noted that many of the features announced are still in testing and will be rolled out over the next few months. With that said, it’s good to see LinkedIn rethinking their advertising models in light of the increased focus on privacy in the world today.
Conclusion
We’re heading into 2021 full steam ahead, and the privacy train shows no signs of slowing down. Immediately following the above we’ll be in conference season, where we find out what Google, Apple and others will be doing that may impact us the rest of the year.
As we get near the midway point of the year, I strongly advise brands to prep for the coming state privacy laws. California and Virginia will have changes slated to take effect on January 1st, 2023. Colorado isn’t far behind enforcing the state’s privacy law in mid-2023 . Brands should make sure they leave themselves plenty of time to become ready prior to enforcement begins when working on their 2022 roadmaps.