Collecting customer data is something businesses take for granted. It’s an expectation: if they can’t gather data on their customers’ behavior online, how else are brands meant to optimize their user journeys? Yet as legal battles between Google Analytics and European data protection authorities show no signs of slowing down, global businesses risk losing access to data on a massive market. They need to reconsider their compliance strategies — and quickly. The shifting landscape of data security is impacting marketers, businesses, and consumers, but are the changes benefiting anyone?

In this episode of Marketing Un*fucked, Siobhan and Russell talk to Cory Underwood, Analytics Engineer at Search Discovery, about all things privacy when it comes to marketing, legal, and analytics. Listen in as Cory shares his expert views on why brands can no longer collect data on everything and deal with compliance later, how data privacy goes beyond analytics teams to wreak havoc for marketing teams, and the rocky future of international data transfers.

In this episode:

• The legal issues Google Analytics is facing in Europe will get worse before they get better.
• What is the impact on consumers when their analytics data is accessible by a foreign government?
• The issue extends beyond Google Analytics to become an issue of American businesses versus EU laws and regulations.
• Data security becomes alarmingly complex when laws and regulations differ from state to state and country to country.
• Will hefty fines for breaching GDPR encourage businesses to act to avoid being caught off guard?
• Legal councils, marketers, and IT teams must share knowledge to protect businesses and customers.
• Is it possible to be 100% compliant when privacy requirements evolve rapidly?
• A lack of clear and unbiased materials explaining the situation and its implications prevents marketers from understanding rulings.
• Are marketing agencies aware enough of privacy regulations to make effective decisions?
• The challenge of retooling systems with entirely new architectures when the rules are constantly changing.
• Could the cost of maintaining compliance see small businesses priced out of the market?
• Will we see an increase in the number of businesses building compliance teams?
• Businesses will need to weigh up the value of their data versus the potential risk.
• How differing legal language and definitions between states and countries cause confusion.
• Marketers need to move on from talking about third-party cookies and email open rates.

Resources:

Cory’s Blog

Cory on LinkedIn

Cory on Twitter