Mobile app developers and marketing professionals are currently facing a shared challenge: respecting consumersâ privacy while still effectively targeting and engaging their desired audiences. This difficulty has arisen not only because of new and evolving data privacy regulations (such as the EUâs General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act), but also because consumers are increasingly wary of sharing their personally identifiable information.
Fortunately, by leveraging smart strategies and technology tools, app creators and marketers can reach and engage target audiences while complying with applicable regulationsâand respecting usersâ PII may even bring the added bonus of enhanced consumer trust and loyalty. Below, 15 members of Forbes Technology Council share their expert tips for balancing a robust respect for privacy with the need to obtain insightful information.
1. Implement A Robust Consent-Management System
Implement a robust consent-management system that involves obtaining explicit consent from users before collecting their data and offering clear and granular options for users to control their data preferences. Additionally, utilize user-friendly interfaces to present and manage consent choices, which ensures transparency and compliance with data privacy regulations. – Ashish Fernando, iSchoolConnect
2. Preserve Privacy Via Machine Learning
Go with privacy-preserving machine learning. This involves using machine learning techniques that donât require access to raw user data. Techniques such as homomorphic encryption allow models to be trained on encrypted data, protecting individual user privacy while still enabling effective data analysis. – Oleksandr Mykolaienko, Tallium Inc.
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3. Leverage Differential Privacy
Utilizing differential privacy is one approach. It adds randomness to datasets, allowing developers and advertisers to gain insights without identifying individual users. This method enables targeted and engaging experiences for audiences by understanding aggregate behaviors while strictly adhering to data privacy regulations, offering a balance between personalization and user protection. – Shelli Brunswick, SB Global LLC
4. Take A First- And Zero-Party Approach
Embrace a first- and zero-party data-centric approach, diverging from third-party reliance. Motivate users to actively input their preferences (zero-party), or refine your appâs privacy policies to support first-party data collection. This ensures adherence to privacy regulations while leveraging data to enhance the user experience with personalized content. – Roi Sorezki, twik
5. Incorporate CMPs And Privacy-Compliant Tracking Methods
Apart from staying up to date on privacy policies and ensuring transparent communication regarding data collection and usage, mobile app developers and advertisers can incorporate consent management platforms and privacy-compliant tracking methods. Such an approach will help ensure effective targeting while maintaining the audienceâs trust. – Roman Vrublivskyi, SmartHub
6. Turn To Behavioral Data
Developers and advertisers should start engaging and targeting customers by using behavioral dataâthis strategy doesnât store or expose any personally identifiable information. If exposed in a data leak, behavioral data will not reveal any PII tied to a customer. – Murali Kushal Sha
7. Use A Vector Database
Vector databases are designed to handle massive volumes of data while maintaining user privacy. This way, app developers can analyze user behavior and preferences to deliver personalized experiences without compromising individualsâ data privacy. – Chet Kapoor, DataStax
8. Consider Revenue Generation Before Starting Development
When developing an app, start by asking yourself how it will generate revenue. Too often, ads and shady data sales practices get added on because technology-focused developers realize that they need to make money from a side project. If you start by questioning how a project will make money, it is easier to add in the needed controls and privacy policies. – Kevin Korte, Univention
9. Adopt A Privacy-By-Design Approach
To comply with data privacy regulations while effectively targeting audiences, mobile app developers and advertisers should adopt a privacy-by-design approach. This includes minimizing data collection, ensuring transparency and user consent, anonymizing data, implementing strong security measures, providing user control, and conducting regular audits. – Deepak Gupta, Cars24 Financial Services
10. Limit API Requirements To Essential Endpoints
Iâd recommend a privacy-by-design strategy that optimizes API integration by limiting API requirements to the essential endpoints necessary for the project. This avoids superfluous fetches solely based on the appeal of protocol functionalities. – Jesse Daniels, Fixtops Technology
11. Use Data Clean Rooms
Data clean rooms are essential for conducting closed-loop measurement at an individual level to link app data (such as user behavior, transactions and journeys) with publisher data. Using a combination of clean rooms and a crosswalk identity partner (such as LiveRamp or TransUnion), weâve been able to help app companies expand their targeting capabilities in a privacy-compliant manner to improve return on ad spend. – Neerav Vyas, Tredence
12. Conduct Regular PIAs
Conducting regular privacy impact assessments is an effective strategy for ensuring compliance and building trust with users. These assessments involve systematically evaluating the potential privacy risks associated with a particular product, feature or data processing activity and identifying ways to mitigate those risks to proactively address privacy issues before they become major problems. – Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC
13. Evaluate The Efficacy Of Hyper-Targeting
Evaluate the actual efficacy of hyper-targeted ads versus other, less privacy-infringing advertising methods. Consider the impact on the value of impressions due to bots and âmanufacturedâ engagementâtheyâre common occurrences, but theyâre not commonly disclosed on most advertising platforms. Ask advertising platforms for transparency regarding the return on ad spend you get for supporting consumer privacy. – Leonard Lee, neXt Curve
14. Work With Lookalike Audiences Or Datasets
Lookalike audiences or datasets can be very effective since the data is anonymized and can still be used to target users. Even with lookalike audiences, however, make sure youâre properly assessing the sensitivity of the data. Your legal obligation to protect data increases as the sensitivity level risesâmeaning, the more personal or sensitive the information, the more you have to do to keep it safe. – Jordan Yallen, MetaTope
15. Partner With Reputable Third-Party Providers
Partner with reputable third-party data providers and advertising networks that adhere to stringent privacy standards and compliance protocols that prioritize user privacy and data security. Developers and advertisers can leverage external resources and expertise to enhance their targeting and engagement strategies while maintaining regulatory compliance and safeguarding user data. – Cristian Randieri, Intellisystem Technologies