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The Data Deal: IAB's Alex Stepney on educating MPs about privacy and the data value exchange

By Alex Stepney | public policy manager

November 6, 2014 | 4 min read

Did you know that only 23 per cent of UK MPs believe it is worth sacrificing some level of personal privacy if it resulted in them receiving cheaper (or ‘free’) content, services or applications?

Alex Stepney

This low figure, based on research by ComRes earlier this year for Political Intelligence, should raise eyebrows in industry. Why the introspection? Because debates related to the commercial use of data (including data used for digital advertising purposes) are set to loom large in the next UK parliament and it is evident that the majority in this current Parliament may not fully understand or even appreciate the data value exchange.

In contrast we know that UK consumers are making the connection between advertising and content, and indeed six in 10 believe the internet would disappear without advertising. According to our Mobile Privacy research from 2013, consumers see privacy as a fluid concept that is dependent on a range of contextual factors. Ultimately privacy means different things to different individuals. But policy makers may not always appreciate the nuances of this, instead using ‘privacy’ and ‘data’ as catchall terms and calling to treat these concepts in a uniform way.

Instead we need to help policymakers – both in the UK and at EU level – to find a smart way of providing consumers with meaningful control, whilst enabling the business drivers and innovation that provides the content and services that people want in the first place. In the first instance education about what is at stake is key.

To that end, late last week we launched The Data Deal, a report that examines the direct and indirect ways in which digital advertising, supported by data, benefits the lives of UK citizens. You can see the report in full here. The report, supported by Audience Science, Captify and Sizmek, cuts straight to the heart of the data value exchange – and how as a result of intelligence gained from data, digital advertising underpins the internet as we know it. It further outlines a series of recommendations to help maintain the responsible growth of this UK economic success story.

At the report’s launch event, at the Ninth Parliament and Internet Conference in Westminster, it was standing room only. Such is the growing interest in the issue of privacy and the growth of digital services. Indeed Baroness Ludford, who formerly led the Liberal MEP Group (ALDE) on data protection in Europe, attended to provide her point of view of the difficulties faced during the negotiations on the proposed Data Protection Regulation.

There are strong and pragmatic voices in Westminster, voices like Ludford’s, but these often seem few and far between. Indeed citing the 23 per cent figure, John Whittingdale MP, chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and chair of the launch event in parliament, quipped: “I don’t know what that says for the other 77 per cent."

It is vital that industry does more to help ensure that UK and EU policymakers fully comprehend the consequences, unintended or otherwise, of overly restrictive legislation on data. There is a lot to do as we approach a new parliament following the UK general election in May 2015. The Data Deal is the first step in that education.

Alex Stepney is the IAB’s public policy manager. Follow her on Twitter @AStepney

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