Guide to understanding compliance for marketers
By Eve Kelly, Marketing Executive at Accelera
Data collection is one of the key components of any great digital marketing strategy. Marketing experts want to know as much as possible, from how many monthly visitors a website receives to which combination of marketing channels drives the most conversions at what stage of the customer journey.
In short, marketers need data. However, over in recent years, questions have risen about privacy and whether or not we should be gathering as much customer behaviour data as we do.
Compliance standards can be a daunting thought, but they don’t have to be as scary as they seem. In this guide, we'll examine the current state of data privacy and how you can comply with best practices to protect your customers and stakeholders.
Key Compliance Requirements
So, lets go over the basics.
137 of 194 countries have legislation in place to protect user data. Here’s a map with a quick overview of the various regulations in each region:
While compliance varies by jurisdiction according to different regulatory bodies, from GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union to PIPL in China, there are certain elements of data privacy that are universal.
Consent
For starters, marketers must obtain explicit consent before collecting personal data. When visitors land on a website, they should be given an option to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out’ of data collection.
Consent comes in many forms, though you've likely seen it in the form of cookie banners. In use, these tools must recognise the Global Privacy Control Opt-Out Signal, which is a privacy initiative that provides internet users with a simple and effective way to communicate their preferences regarding data privacy.
It's essential to be aware of how your cookie banner is designed.
For example, you must note in the text what the data you're collecting is for, whether it be analytics, advertising, or social media. You must also ensure that the Accept or Reject buttons (or whatever you name them) are the same size (e.g. you’re not making the ‘Accept’ button easier to press). In short, the simpler the design the better, that way you can avoid any confusion or misleading graphics.
Transparency on how data is collected
Next, ensure you provide clear and detailed information that tells consumers how you plan to collect, use, and share their information. This is especially important if you are running email marketing campaigns.
Back in 2023, Home Depot was found in violation of PIPEDA for providing Meta with personal information that consumers were unaware of. When Home Depot customers typed in their email addresses to get digital copies of their receipts, those emails were used for Facebook and Instagram remarketing (a BIG no-no).
The point here is that transparency should entail what type of data you're collecting and why you're collecting it. If you haven't reviewed your privacy policy in a while, now might be the time to do so to avoid any legal risks, that could result in financial penalties. It's also simply good practice to ensure consumer trust alongside your marketing efforts and uphold your brand's reputation.
Data minimisation – only collecting that which is necessary for the intended purpose
With tightening regulations on data collection, it's important to adopt a stringent practice of only collecting essential information for an intended purpose. As an added benefit, doing so can increase efficiency in the way you handle customer data and reduce the risk of data breaches.
Essentially, when you reduce the amount of data in storage, you diminish the surface area that is open to cyber attacks.
As of January 2024, nearly 21% of UK organisations are experiencing data breaches. Not only is it expensive to recover data and mitigate the damage these kinds of breaches cause, but they can also lead to a loss of trust among customers.
So only stick to the necessary stuff, and make sure your brand reputation remains strong.
Individuals can access their data, and have control over how it is used
While this sentiment may not apply in any situation where legal or official authority is exercised, it is very important in the context of marketing.
Individuals can object to how their data is used for sales, marketing, or other non-service-related activities. Anyone who has previously opted in should be able to unsubscribe or opt out at any time.
Ability to request deletion of data
According to the right to erasure, UK consumers now have the right to access and request the deletion of their data if they desire. The same goes for consumers in the EU. Make sure that your business makes this easy to do if necessary, and explore markets you work in to see if that same right or other relevant laws apply.
Implementing data protection measures
Now that you have an overview of the key requirements to be aware of, how do you go about making sure that all the appropriate measures are put in place?
As the rules and regulations surrounding data privacy continue to evolve, digital marketers may find it challenging to meet their goals while following strict regulatory requirements. The first step in addressing these compliance challenges is developing a comprehensive data privacy compliance strategy.
Robust data security measures
The data security measures you implement must take into account all of the relevant regulations in your jurisdiction, as well as providing a framework that your employees and marketing team members can follow.
Some of the most important data security measures to implement include:
Data Classification: Knowing where your critical assets are at is the best way to protect them. This is where data classification software can come in handy. It's made to automatically scan your repositories and classify data as ‘sensitive,’ such as protected health information or payment card information.
Strict Access Controls: One of the leading causes of data breaches is privileged account misuse. To restrict access to critical systems and data, it's important that users or employees only receive access to specific assets they need to satisfy their role. Any access an employee has should be revoked when no longer in use.
Sensitive Data Encryption: Whether at rest or in transit, make sure any sensitive data you've collected is encrypted. Even though encryption is one of the most effective ways to prevent unauthorised access, many companies continue to overlook it.
Security Training: Roughly 55% of security incidents are caused by negligent or mistaken insiders. Making sure your employees are able to identify suspicious threats and have optimal password hygiene is the best way to mitigate internal threats. Regular training and phishing tests are efficient ways of keeping everyone alert and informed.
Regular audits
Beyond improving data quality by identifying errors and inconsistencies, regular data audits can help ensure compliance by allowing businesses to identify and analyse any areas where they are not compliant.
Auditing can also help optimise data security by identifying vulnerabilities in the way data is stored, accessed, and handled.
So, how do you conduct a data audit?
First, you need to understand where your organisation's data comes from, whether a third-party app or an integrated CRM system. From there, you can determine whether that source has security measures in place to prevent breaches.
During your audit, you may need to check whether your data management practices align with your local or global data regulations, remember there can be industry-specific regulations too.
With this information in hand, you can create an audit report that outlines the sources of your data, the quality of your data, existing security measures, and your compliance status. These components should provide you with enough information to make recommendations for any improvement necessary.
Employee training on best practices or hiring a data protection officer
Your employees and stakeholders must be accountable for how they collect, use, and share personal data. Whether you currently have compliance policies and procedures in place or need to develop a new set of requirements, it's important that those with access have a thorough understanding of them.
If there are any points throughout the year when your company has seasonal downtime, it may be worth setting up a training session to ensure all necessary personnel are aware of the privacy policies and security measures.
Of course, if your company doesn't have the bandwidth to stay up to date with evolving data privacy regulations, it may be worth partnering with a data protection officer who can help your company develop compliance strategies and keep your marketing teams up to date with the latest legal developments and best practices.
Tools and Resources for Data Privacy Compliance
If you choose to manage your data privacy compliance strategy on your own, there are several tools, resources, and even marketing compliance software to help you along the way.
We recommend starting with a data privacy compliance assessment and checklist.
Next, you can develop a cookie banner to update and track consent from any site visitors. Here's an in-depth overview of the UK and EU’s GDPR and cookie banner requirements.
Lastly, update your privacy policy using a privacy policy generator. There are plenty of free privacy policy generators out there, such as Termly, which complies with GDPR, PIPEDA, CCPA, CalOPPA, and more.
Final Thoughts
Without data privacy in place, it's challenging to create effective digital marketing campaigns while maintaining trust with your consumers. Running into compliance issues can be a slippery slope and may lead to legal action and some hefty fines. Through a proactive approach you can make sure your marketing activities are sticking to all the compliance guidelines necessary to function smoothly, and ensure the trust of your customers.
By following privacy compliance requirements and sticking to industry standards, you can make sure that any personal information collected is used and shared in an ethical, responsible manner.