In an era of digitisation, data is becoming a pillar of public life. One tends to go back and question as to how exactly do we demarcate between the information that one has to give out for personalised content to find its way to us, and the information that makes one a targeted audience using algorithms by tracing their digital footprints.

Who gets impacted?

There is of course, a set of people who opt for ad free subscriptions but that’s a reality for a restricted sect of people and we can’t undermine the privacy concerns of the larger part of the lot.
The other stakeholders are also the companies and platforms that use cookies and digital footprints of users to not only ensure traction and better engagement of their ad-campaigns but also reach out to the people who are more likely to be attracted towards their products. The other facet to this understanding is that the users get a more personalised experience which best suits their interests, or at least as much of it that the algorithm used by digital marketing agencies can make sense of.

The big question

How much invasion of data is too much invasion of data in a context where data invasion is like fuel for digital marketing hubs.

Right to Privacy- a Fundamental Right

WHAT’S THE BILL ALL ABOUT?

The Indian Government has responded to this question with the introduction of the Data Protection Bill (DPB),2021. Once this bill becomes a law the companies won’t be able to access a user’s personal information without established consent. This puts considerable thought over what the future would look like for companies using tailored experience as a means of justifying invasion of users data.

What does it mean for the user ?

For the users, the bill, as designed under the Justice Srikrishna Committee, is all about breaking the chain of information collection across the channels.
Hence, watching Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara on Netflix won’t fill your device with travel related advertisements.
The understanding here is also that the user is now in control of how much of their personal information is out there and for how long.
Persuasive ad campaigns are likely to lose significance in such a case, given that the user would see the ads only related to their chosen interest zones, so you won’t see an ad related to fashion trends if you are not interested in the same.

What does it mean for the marketing agencies?

How the Marketing world sees these changes becomes an important question given that they are also the major stakeholder. For starters, they get more streamlined information about the users who are interested in seeing a particular ad-campaign.

Another branch to this bill could be devised on the grounds of data management and data governance in an ethical context. The buying behaviour of masses is highly influenced by their trust in the redressal mechanism as provided by a company. With the enactment of the data protection bill, the companies would restrict their operations in providing customers with a sense of security in legal re courses. Ultimately, after being educated about their privacy rights and witnessing their application for basic utilities, the consumers would provide a boost to the e-commerce industry. This process will have a strengthened sentiment of trust and maturity for the companies.

What the Future may Behold

 WHAT MAY CHANGE FOR YOU, AS A USER?

One can anticipate a lot of changes being initiated with the implementation of the act, but that can’t remotely equip us with a picture of what the ground level impact of the bill could look like. Along with economic and political forces there also exist the problem of poor infrastructural resources especially across the aspect of digital literacy for both- users and companies.

What may change for Marketing?

The bill would be implemented in light of it being in resonance with the rapidly changing technologies around us, something that the committee under Justice Srikrishna also acknowledged, constant data auditing in the companies would also be relevant to ensure protection of data.

The companies would also be obligated to ensure better trust establishment so that they can still ensure a healthy flow of the ‘fuel’ to maintain their machinery of personalised and enhanced user experience through their marketing methods.

In all, one can just anticipate that their Right to Privacy and quality tailored experience comes in a baggage deal but how the bill pans out for both our stakeholders is something to look forward to.