The Role of Privacy in Digital Marketing in 2020

Privacy is an increasingly relevant issue in the marketing industry as technology gets more advanced and workarounds for data compliance get smarter by the day. So where are we and how did we get here? Are we at the point where corporations know more about us than we do? Is Mockingbird one of those corporations?

 

The short answer to that last question is no, we don’t have data on millions of individuals. While we can see details about the people who visit our site, we can’t actually determine much about them from their location and device type. That is, unless there’s only one person in Billings, Montana with a Samsung Galaxy S8, in which case, hi to that one person. 

 

Of course, privacy is a lot more complicated than that. Mockingbird specifically might not have data on individuals, but a lot of companies do. It’s easier to do targeted advertising when you know exactly who you’re targeting. 

 

How to Know Who You Are Targeting

What Are Cookies

The most common way to figure out who to target is by cookies. Cookies are pieces of software that get downloaded onto the user’s browser or hard drive (depending on the type of cookie) and can provide information on the user’s habits. This means that cookies are used to keep things in your shopping cart when you’re browsing an online store, but it also means that Google knows a lot about you just through the websites you have visited. Google then uses that information to assist advertisers in targeting you specifically. 

 

You might have noticed that more and more websites are giving notice to their users that they use cookies, and to continue on the site you need to accept cookies into your life. This is largely a state by state legislative change, where some states are now requiring sites to inform their users of the use of cookies, so sites often find it easier to notify all users despite their location. 

 

Privacy protection legislation is attempting to crackdown on Cambridge Analytica level data sharing, but legislators are hardly up to the task of keeping up with developers. Sidestepping privacy legislation is almost its own branch of black hat marketing at this point, and should be avoided. Following the rules and respecting privacy is the best way to go for legal and ethical reasons.

 

How Do Cookies Track Users

When a user visits a site, a cookie is placed on their browser or hard drive. After they leave the site, the cookie is still there. If they return to the site, the cookie can tell the website that it’s the same user as before. If you want to see the type of information Google will provide about a single user, here’s a screenshot from Google Analytics:

As you can see the user isn’t identified, only the pages they visited and where they decided to convert. While Google will provide general information about demographics (percentage users male and female, number of users from specific locations, etc), they do not include this in user-specific info. We can see specific user paths, see which paths work best for conversions, but we can’t see how these paths relate to where the user is from or what their interests are. 

 

Will Marketers Jump On Any Opportunity to Invade Privacy?

I mean, probably. Wherever there’s the opportunity to better sell to people, marketers will utilize it. Users are the commodity, and it forces marketers into an ethical pickle to think of their commodity as people. I would like to add a disclaimer here that Mockingbird is not interested in selling user’s data and are committed to privacy for both users and our clients. While there will always be those willing to do whatever it takes to profit, there are also those who will stand their ground for what they believe in.

 

This is where Google can be considered relatively…good? It’s no doubt that Google knows more about who we are as individuals than we probably do; their data runs deep. But they also try to limit the access their advertising customers have to user data. They limit how many times advertisers can market to a single person in a day, and they limit how targeted those ad campaigns can be. They have restrictions for what can be in ads, and prohibit false information. Compared to a site like Facebook, Google is amazing, but that really isn’t a very high bar.

 

So What Do I Tell My Paranoid Relative Who Thinks Their Microwave is Recording Them?

Well, tell them not to have private discussions in front of their microwave if they’re so worried about that. There’s plenty to be worried about when it comes to internet privacy, but the ads for shoes probably shouldn’t be top of mind.

Making Your Website Scalable Helps Everyone (and Everwhere)

There’s always room for growth. Whether you’re a two-person firm in a one-horse town or a multinational corporation with hundreds of employees, you want to leave room to expand. 

 

This room has to extend to your website, which you should build with the expectation that it will someday need to be updated for a larger, broader market. There are a number of reasons for this, but let’s focus on the main three for now.

 

Accessibility

Every state and country has different accessibility regulations, and you should pay attention to the strictest of the lot. If you follow the rules of the strictest, you’re following the rules of the laxest. 

The best way to cover your bases for accessibility is by following current SEO best practices:

  • Ensure images have thorough alt text
  • Make sure each page has comprehensive titles, H1, H2, and H3 labeling
  • Add title tags

 

Privacy Settings

Arguably more varied than accessibility, internet privacy laws change from country to country. Even within America, privacy regulations change. Some sites avoid state-by-state violations by simply showing cookie warnings to every visitor, regardless of location. 

 

Site Regulations

America’s must-haves for a website are different from the EU’s, and both of those are wildly different from China’s. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need different websites for different regions (you will probably need a different website for China). The best thing you can do is make sure your website follows the guidelines of every region it will be active in, and the best way to prepare for this is to have a website that is already easily upgradable. 

If you’re looking at building a website for your firm or simply maintaining the one you already have, it’s important to look ahead at where your business could go. These are the things we think about here at Mockingbird Marketing. If you would like to discuss your firm’s website, contact us!

Should Your Law Firm’s Website Have a Privacy Policy?

Short answer: Yes.

Medium answer: It’s best practice for you to do so, but not required by law unless you do business in the state of California and/or target children under the age of 13.

Long answer: Read on.

What is a Privacy Policy?

A privacy policy is generally a page on your website letting your users know how you collect and handle their information. It serves two main purposes. On one hand, it informs users on what is happening with their information so they can protect themselves. On the other hand, it allows webmasters to avoid potential legal issues.

Privacy policies serve a different purpose than a disclaimer, which are also good to have on your website. A disclaimer denies responsibility. For law firms, this usually means informing users that the content on your website is not and is not intended to be legal advice (and other statements along the same lines.)

Best Practices

  • Let users know what information you collect, whether or not that information is personally identifiable, and explain how that information is collected.
  • If you share user information, state who the information is shared with and how it is shared with them.
  • State that if you are compelled by law to disclose information, you will comply with such orders.
  • Give readers the option to correct, change or remove any personal information about themselves.
  • Include a last updated or effective by date.
  • Communicate if/when you’ll update it and how you’ll communicate changes.
  • If you’re not a lawyer or you outsource the writing of your policy, get it reviewed by a lawyer.

3 Tips for Writing Your Website’s Privacy Policy

  1. Don’t say you’ll never share user information with a third-party, because there’s a 90% chance you will. Do you have a web developer/marketing company working on your site? Third party. If you were legally required to share that information with law enforcement, would you? Third party.
  2. Write in plain English. Test this by having your non-lawyer non-internet marketer friend read it and see if they understand. If they have questions, answer them in your privacy policy.
  3. Put this bad boy on your website somewhere where users can see it. Add the page somewhere navigable, like your footer. Hiding your privacy policy in size 4 font or only making it accessible via sitemap doesn’t do anyone any good.

A Special Note for Lawyers

You should really probably have a privacy policy, because:

  1. You are collecting information about your users; you should tell them about it.
  2. You have the know-how to create a privacy policy without needing to consult someone else (other than perhaps your web developer to get it put online), so just do it.