How to Be Upfront and Center About Privacy While Engaging Customers and Protecting Their Data

According to Webster’s dictionary:

privacy is the state of being apart from others or observation, or the freedom from unauthorized intrusion. It can also mean secrecy or a private matter.

And just think, privacy is something human beings have yearned for from likely the earliest of times. Freedom includes privacy — when you want it, whenever, wherever you want it. In fact, did you know that the first privacy debate began in 1890?

In the December 15 1890 Harvard Review, Warren and Brandeis published ‘The Right to Privacy’, an article inspired by the recent development of the Kodak camera and fears about the impact of instantaneous photographs on privacy and the impact of newspapers on private life.? They wrote, 'instantaneous photographs and newspaper enterprise have invaded the sacred precincts of private and domestic life...'

But what about customer privacy today? The Pew Research Center, polling American adults in May 2023, concluded that "Americans remain uneasy and uncertain about their personal data and feel they have little control over how it’s used.” And most concerning for digital marketers, 81% of respondents expressed worry about the use of their data by companies.

Interestingly the arrival of the Kodak camera set the privacy conversation in motion that continues to this day – Few things are private today in a world where everything is captured online and uploaded on social media.??This shift presents unique challenges—and opportunities—for digital marketers who aim to engage customers while respecting their every growing privacy concerns.

Here are the top three things digital marketers need to know about privacy.

Be Upfront and Center About Data Transparency, Beyond Legal Disclosures

If you’re looking for guidance on openly sharing how your business collects and uses customer data, Mozilla offers a great example. Known for its strong stance on privacy, Mozilla makes transparency a core part of its brand and user experience. From its home page message, “Mozilla builds privacy products,” to its commitment to safe browsing and blocking the $240 billion data broker industry from accessing user data, Mozilla sets a high standard for openness with its users.

In April, Mozilla announced a new tool for privacy-conscious users to manage and remove their data from the web. For $8.99 per month, Mozilla Monitor allows users to track more than 190 data broker sites that may be selling personal information collected from social media, apps, websites, and smart devices. If Mozilla Monitor finds your data on these sites, it attempts to delete it on your behalf.

The rise of sites such as Mozilla Monitor says two things to marketers. Firstly, they’ll have to make data customization tools available on their user account pages, or add features such as Global Privacy Control, as Verizon does. Second, as tools like these become commonplace, marketers will have to accelerate their abilities to collect and analyze first- and zero-party data

Zero Party Data Collection Done Right

We’ve known for years that the demand to collect first- and zero-party data is growing. Before we begin, let’s clarify what we mean by these terms:

Zero-party information: Information that consumers explicitly disclose to companies such as their personal preferences or purchase intentions.

First-party data: Data gathered directly from a customer’s interactions with a brand and providing behavior and preferences.

So how do you start collecting zero-party data? Let’s consider a few successful instances:

Fidelity

Preference Center Survey: Fidelity gathers lifestyle data through a preference center where customers can customize preferences and provide insights into their lives.

Ulta Beauty – Loyalty Program Gamification?

Ulta Beauty recently teamed up with loyalty program provider Hang to launch GlamXplorer, a gamified loyalty program that cleverly combines engagement with data collection. Through mini-games, questionnaires, and virtual makeup try-ons, customers interact with the brand while Ulta gathers valuable insights. The more customers complete game activities, the more they get prizes like gift cards, vouchers and customized beauty products. GlamXplorer is an excellent example of zero-party data being collected via an interactive loyalty program and this data being leveraged to personalize the customer journey.

Warby Parker - Product Preference Quizzes

Email is also a great way to gather zero-party information about customers’ product preferences, and use this to personalize product suggestions and promotions. Warby Parker is a good example: they put a survey in their email, with an easy-to-use interface that asks for the customer’s email address. The email explains that once they submit their email, the quiz results are sent to them, along with news about new frames, stores, and more. This is a good example of gathering zero-party data through surveys and email along side AI tech to send hyper-relevant offers to customers at scale.

Stay Up to Date with Emerging Privacy Laws.

Congress has yet to enact a national data privacy bill, which means that marketers need to abide by the laws of 17 states. To stay ahead, you’ll need to keep up with new privacy regulations and continually rethink plans. Regular privacy risk reviews, as well as privacy-friendly data collection practices, will be essential to keeping consumers’ trust.?

In the digital age, privacy is not a luxury, but a necessity. Customers are more sensitive and wary than ever of the use of their data, and brands who don’t invest in privacy are at risk of losing their confidence. Programs such as Ulta Beauty’s GlamXplorer and Warby Parker’s product surveys show that brands can acquire information and still keep customer data safe — collection can feel like a value exchange, not a data grab. As privacy regulations grow more complex, brands have a chance to be different, open, customers-focused and compliant. By doing so, they are able to cultivate loyalty and trust in a way that is authentic and will enable them to establish loyal customers for the digital era.