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As we wrap up an eventful 2023 and prepare for what is lining up to be an even more exciting 2024, everyone is wondering what the biggest thing to shape the data privacy industry next year will be.
We gathered some of our team and asked them that exact question. Keep reading for an insightful spread of opinions and predictions, and let’s meet in a year to see who had it right!
Bonus: After asking our team for their opinions, we decided to expand and gather insights from over 15 privacy experts ranging from DPOs to lawyers, engineers, and activists. They all agreed to participate and answer the question, "What is, in your opinion, the most important data privacy trend to look out for in 2024?"
Check out their answers in our 2024 data privacy expert roundup (no email or sign-up required):
Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to grow and will need to harmonize with data privacy
Likely the most talked about topic in tech in 2023, AI has impacted all industries this year.
While the excitement surrounding the possibilities is exhilarating, the risks associated with these technologies can also be sobering and divisive at times. Legitimate data privacy concerns have emerged, and regulatory efforts such as the AI Act try to address them within a legal framework. Still, they are sometimes met with mixed reviews.
At Didomi, we focus on encouraging our customer base to leverage artificial intelligence while implementing ethical, responsible practices, something our CEO, Romain Gauthier, explained during a recent keynote:
“Like many others in the tech space, we are excited by the prospects of artificial intelligence and how these technologies can change our lives and societies for the better. However, and more importantly, we believe in a lawful approach to AI that respects fundamental human rights.
Didomi can help organizations build ethical AI practices in 3 ways: Clearly explaining the purposes of personal data processing with AI, defining the individual context (what we call preferences) that will feed AI models, and providing user-friendly (and privacy-focused) workflows and user interfaces.”
- Romain Gauthier, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
The transformative potential of AI will likely have a continued impact on businesses and the economy at large in 2024.
Asked about the most significant trends to look out for in 2024, our Head of Marketing and Communications, Sarah Reveillard, also reflects on the rise of generative AI, and the advent of privacy-enhancing technologies (PET):
“The widespread adoption of GenAI faces two major challenges: Privacy and Trust.
Privacy concerns arise from the fear of confidential information leakage, while the latter is often associated with LLM's hallucination. Notably, in the early 2000s, when search engines emerged, businesses faced a significant hurdle due to privacy concerns until they realized their crucial role in achieving high rankings for their websites.
This year's ascent of Chief AI Officers emphasizes that AI is not just a hype but a tangible reality to establish an AI-first culture, prioritizing ethical considerations and robust governance for the responsible use of AI. Equally, as the data privacy industry approaches the ‘cookie apocalypse,’ AdTech solutions, such as AI-driven Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET), are accelerating. Innovations like Data Clean rooms and new approaches to PII management are transforming the landscape, heralding a new era in data privacy.”
- Sarah Reveillard, Head of Marketing and Communications
If you're interested in Artificial Intelligence and the current efforts to articulate innovation and data privacy, as well as our vision for an ethical, responsible AI at Didomi, head to our article:
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We will enter the cookieless era, and organizations will need to go beyond third-party data
After years of planning, Google confirmed that Chrome will finally disable third-party cookies in 2024, starting with 1% of users in the first quarter for testing purposes and ramping up to 100% from the third quarter of 2024.
This will be a massive shift in the digital landscape for organizations and something we’ve been preparing for years. Our personalized customer preference journeys help organizations collect zero and first-party data to stop relying on third-party cookies and offer truly personalized experiences to their users.
Our Director of Customer Success, Charlotte Perrin, and her team help our clients, collaborators, and partners prepare for these challenges every day:
"With the end of third-party cookies scheduled for 2024, our customers must find other solutions to collect clear, relevant data that makes sense for their business.
Organizations need to turn to other solutions, and Didomi can support them, particularly in setting up a server-side implementation and building a strategy linked to first-party data and preferences that can be collected throughout the customer journey in an intelligent way."
- Charlotte Perrin, Director of Customer Success
The phasing out of third-party cookies is not the only change on the horizon. It is accompanied by other industry-shaking news and updates, from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v2.2, and the latest updates to Google consent mode.
Raphaël Boukris, our co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, reflects on these challenges and highlights the need for solutions that can adapt to the changing needs of organizations, including cross-device consent and first-party data:
"2024 will be a pivotal year for digital and legal departments. With the recent adoption of TCF V2.2, DMA, Google Consent Mode V2, and the effective disappearance of third-party cookies in Chrome, the stakes have never been higher for any company that conducts a significant portion of its business on its websites and applications.
We are witnessing a growing demand for unified, cross-device consent linked to a persistent identifier used by our clients. Companies, especially those with strong brands, will capitalize on the collection and proper distribution of their first-party data to have a very rich view of all consents and preferences for all their users.
The challenges will, therefore, be numerous for organizations that will need reliable partners like Didomi by their side."
- Raphaël Boukris, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer
Learn more about the upcoming cookieless world and how brands can turn it into a competitive advantage:
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The global regulatory wave will continue growing and consent will play a key role
Since 2018 and the advent of the GDPR, we’ve seen new data privacy regulations appear all over the world. This trend is not likely to slow down, with more efforts on the way for regulators.
However, while data privacy laws are still very relevant, our Chief Privacy Officer Thomas Adhumeau notes that elements of data privacy and, more specifically, consent, are also increasingly appearing in other regulations such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), making it the primary legal basis for data collection and the cornerstone of a modern digital strategy:
"Consent, once the exclusive domain of privacy laws, has now become the linchpin in a broader regulatory context, including consumer protection and competition law. With the DMA and DSA, we're seeing a shift towards greater user empowerment—where consent is integral not only for data privacy but also for transparency in advertising and fair data practices among gatekeepers.
As we embrace this shift, consent is set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of AI regulation, ensuring users have a decisive voice in this burgeoning field."
- Thomas Adhumeau, Chief Privacy Officer
In the United States, our VP of Product Development, Jeff Wheeler, has long been an observer and commentator of the political divide in the privacy space.
In 2024, he predicts a continuation of the trends in place with the hope that, with collaboration and understanding, a balanced and effective federal privacy law can be achieved. He also identifies some critical topics for the year to come:
“In 2024, 2 more state laws will go into effect in the United States, and we’ll most likely see a couple more laws pass this legislative season. That will continue to drive the divide in the US.
Other privacy trends to be aware of for the upcoming year include universal opt-out signals, artificial intelligence, Chrome moving away from 3rd party cookies, and Connected TVs, which will all continue to drive more interest."
- Jeff Wheeler, Vice President of Product Development
To learn how to approach worldwide regulations and be able to give the right consent banner to the right person based on their location, take a look at our multi-regulations Consent Management Platform (CMP):
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Didomi will continue to be a reliable partner in an ever-changing privacy landscape
To conclude this roundup of comments from our team, all participants agreed on the role Didomi can play by helping organizations tackle the challenges ahead.
Our VP of Strategy, Product Evangelist, and Director of Partnerships, Frank Ducret, echoes the other comments by reminding us of the looming end of third-party cookies and introduces data clean rooms as an alternative for organizations to consider, emphasizing the need for thorough governance that can be managed using Didomi Global Privacy UX Solutions:
"The erosion of consent rates and the disappearance of third-party cookies compel every player in the digital industry to rebuild their data portfolio. These one-to-one or one-to-many data sharing within data clean room environments require absolute control over consent signals, ensured by a governance that is clear, cross-functional, and operational. The partnership strategy implemented by Didomi enables it to provide you with the best technically driven solutions, serving the top practices in digital transformation."
- Frank Ducret, VP Strategy, Product Evangelist & Director of Partnerships
Lastly, our Head of Product Julien Djelouah wraps it all up by reminding us of our Privacy UX values of creating compliant user experiences people love, which organizations will need to make a priority in 2024 by working with data privacy solutions providers with the required know-how:
"Due to technological evolutions, the proliferation of regulations and industry frameworks worldwide, and users' growing awareness of privacy, digital privacy management projects are increasingly complex, multi-actor, and time-consuming.
In 2024, more than ever, the delivery of user-friendly privacy experiences to maximize revenue while complying with regulations will require the deployment of privacy governance tools and processes dedicated to orchestrating and monitoring this type of project at scale."
- Julien Djelouah, Head of Product
What are your predictions for 2024 in data privacy? To discuss your privacy and compliance challenges for the new year, book a call with our team and explore with us how Didomi could help:
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