ADVERTISING AND MARKETING: REGULATION AND PRIVACY
R&C: To what extent are consumer data privacy issues impacting advertisers and marketers? How would you characterise concerns that personal information is being used irresponsibly or unethically?
Turner: Two key data protection issues that continue to be a challenge for advertisers and marketers are transparency and ensuring there is a lawful basis for processing consumer personal data. Given the technical complexities of AdTech, it is difficult for advertisers and marketers to ensure consumers understand how their data is used, as they are reliant on passing this obligation on – by way of contract – to publishers. Similarly, advertisers and marketers need to ensure that they have a lawful basis to process the personal data that is collected as part of delivering the advertising, and many players continue to rely on practices that are viewed by data protection regulators to be non-compliant.
R&C: Could you outline some of the main legal and regulatory developments in this area?
Turner: The main developments in AdTech have been the increasing clarity that regulators have given to requirements for transparency and lawful processing of personal data, as well as the overreliance on the contractual supply chain which helps deliver the advertising. In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has undertaken a review on real-time bidding which resulted in the publication of a report which sets out the ICO’s view on how the AdTech industry is using personal data. The ICO, along with other European regulators, has also made it increasingly clear that consumers must be given clear and easy methods for choosing whether their personal data will be processed in order to deliver advertising, and this includes the use of cookies and similar technologies.
Oct-Dec 2023 Issue
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP