"Yes, the industry has heard that before. It heard it when the General Data Protection Regulation arrived and data privacy officers multiplied across Europe. It heard it when the California Consumer Privacy Act pushed privacy audits across the U.S. It heard it again when Google moved to phase out third-party cookies. Each time, privacy felt like a turning point. And each time, the system bent, adapted and largely carried on."
"Granular behavioral signals are the currency of the modern platform economy, after all. But context matters. TikTok in the U.S. now operates under a new ownership structure that includes Oracle, whose co-founder Larry Ellison has spoken about AI-enabled surveillance as a tool to keep citizens "on their best behavior." Against that rhetoric, routine data practices take on a different weight."
Privacy decisions in advertising are reaching a more consequential stage as the context around collected data shifts. Past regulatory and technical changes (GDPR, CCPA, third-party cookie phase-out) prompted adaptation without fundamental change. Platform updates and ownership shifts allow routine data collection—such as precise location from apps—to carry new implications when paired with rhetoric supporting AI-enabled surveillance. Government interest in using ad tech and big data for investigations shows commercial prediction tools can be repurposed for enforcement. Aggregated behavioral signals create persistent records of daily life, reframing advertising as a source of surveillance risk and making enduring privacy choices more likely.
Read at Digiday
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