Privacy and first-party data: How to make ethical targeting possible

Marketers are increasingly turning to first-party data – data the company has collected directly from its customers, app users, site visitors, etc. – to inform marketing, advertising and media strategies. It’s table stakes. But so are data protection and data privacy. Can marketers put first-party data to work without compromising customer privacy? Can they do so without using second and third-party cookies?

Yes. It’s called ethical targeting, and it’s possible. Here’s how.

Choose your weapon

You’re going to need a powerful consumer segmentation tool that negates the need to reveal your customers’ information to your agency, media platforms, publishers, Google, Meta and more

This tool must provide you with sufficiently detailed consumer segments to act as valid proxies for your target audiences, without ever compromising the privacy of your customers and contacts.

(We use Roy Morgan’s Helix Personas.