Dubai: Are you a web surfer and frequent social media user who has no issues with passing on your precious consumer data? Or, are you the sort who will not let any tech giant – and marketing company - use that info to get to know your preferences better?
More UAE users – and those elsewhere - are starting to think about ring-fencing their data, dismissing outright the cookie usage requests that pop up each time you get into a new site. If so, they will play their part in empowering Apple in their ongoing privacy battle with Meta (formerly Facebook) in how user data must be shared.
User privacy will play a major role in the coming days. This doesn’t mean brands will miss out on reaching users - if done correctly users are more likely to engage
“Apple has often been described as a pro-consumer privacy company,” said Alex Malouf, Board Member at the advertising and marketing industry grouping PRCA MENA. “With Android, the operating system is from Google, which in itself is the world's largest advertising platform.
“You can be certain that there are Android users who are also concerned about privacy and do not want to be targeted by ads - just like those who own an Apple iPhone. Overall, the online ad industry does have to address the issue of transparency with consumers.”
Apple's response has been understandable and they want to offer consumers the ability to opt out of being monitored. The same conversations have been had over the use of cookies. The days of ad companies targeting consumers everywhere on the web are over
Meta last week got a taste of how consumer sentiments are changing, and that of advertisers along with them. The stock had the biggest single-day meltdown - at $250 billion - in history as investors got spooked about drop in Facebook user numbers. Meta said that Apple’s stricter privacy policy had also played its part.
No easy switch for tech giants
That should not necessarily mean changes these tech giants will be completely reworking their own data use policy. “We are seeing this issue play out again in Europe, with reports that Meta may pull out from Europe if it can no longer exchange data from European users with the US,” said Malouf. “What can companies whose entire business model is designed around targeting billions of online users with advertising do?”
What you watch on YouTube or what are you looking for on Chrome browser, that information is priceless and I don’t think it’ll be easy to say goodbye to it that easily
Sure, Meta/Facebook has tightened up their data policies. The laissez-faire policy of passing on user data to all available bidders is no longer indulged in. Yet, do consumers have full power over their data protection?
“A survey by Ding GPI shows 45 per cent of users in the UAE and 37 per cent in Saudi Arabia are concerned about data collection,” said Amit Raj at Binary, a digital media firm. “Meta/Facebook has always been fighting battles well in the past, and, despite everything, they had advertisers' confidence.
A survey conducted last year showed 92% of UAE businesses do not strictly apply consumer data protection policies. This will change as the federal law was released at the beginning of this year and the UAE Data Office will act as a national data regulator
“Now, at one end, Tiktok has been attracting young adults away from FB, and on the other, Apple's ATT data protection policy limits advertisers from targeting based on audience interest or ID. This two-way throttle on FB has it falling on stock exchanges and among advertisers.”
UAE adds muscle to data protection
In December, the UAE embedded more rights to its ‘Personal Data Protection Law’, which among other things, sets:
- The controls for the processing of personal data and the general obligations of companies that have personal data to secure it and maintain its confidentiality and privacy. It prohibits the processing of personal data without the consent of its owner, except for some cases in which the processing is necessary to protect a public interest or to carry out any of the legal procedures and rights.
- The law gives the owner of the data the right to request for corrections of inaccurate personal data and to restrict or stop the processing of his personal data.
Incidentally, this is the first federal law to be drafted in partnership with major technology companies in the private sector. It came into force on January 2.
Use all means available
Tomasz Wisniewski, Director of Research and Education at Axiory Intelligence, is insistent that while laws do their part, consumers must do a lot more at their end. “’When an online service is free, you’re not the customer - You’re the product’,” he said. “Almost every single company that would like to sell us something would like to know more about us first.
“There is only a handful of companies or institutions, which actually value our privacy and are opposing the whole data harvesting process. Apple raising the bar in this matter is definitely a step forward, but can it be copied by other vendors? I don’t think so.
“There is a conflict of interest there, although Google was following the Apple movement with increasing the data privacy on Android. Google, like Facebook, would also like to know as much about you as possible. What you watch on YouTube or what are you looking for on Chrome browser, that information is priceless and I don’t think it’ll be easy to say goodbye to it that easily.
“I don’t think that any major peer will go beyond what Apple did. The Blackberry days are way over.”
We believe every organization should be striving to match up to the raised standards of data protection and that it will serve as an opportunity for vendors to introduce new ways to offer similar protection to their audience
Will advertisers force the privacy?
In the past, for various reasons, advertisers and brands have decided they are quitting social media, but they are very much the minority.
Satish Mayya of BPG Group has his doubts whether advertiser pressure can work. “There is no doubt that Meta - Facebook and Instagram combined - is one important part of any client’s media mix today,” he said. “A brand cannot afford to miss out on where users are. However, what makes a campaign successful is communication. Since the space is so cluttered, a brand needs to stand out to grab user attention.
“Users have more power over data sharing options. Look at it another way, Facebook will have a little less control on what they used to get from each user. However this shift in data privacy is not yet made aware to the wider public.
“For instance, the way India – the second largest country in internet users - regulate user privacy differently than the US. So, this is an evolving event.
“I am hopeful that with the rise of Web 3.0, users will have more control and it will be a much user-oriented environment.”
That and a few prods like the Meta stock meltdown of last week should convince more tech companies to change, faster.
