Now Is the Time to Get a Grip Around New Data-Privacy Realities Compliance might have seemed like a daunting task in the recent past, but things are just getting exciting as we move into 2022.

While all the fuss around the upcoming deprecation of third-party cookies has filled the online advertising space in the past months, new privacy regulations turn out to be another big challenge the industry is about to face. In fact, it is already here, and ignoring it is no longer an option.

Neverending treasure hunt for users' data consent

Truth be told, a multitude of reputable companies working in online advertising have put exceptional effort into the adaptation of their business models to comply with new privacy laws, hence protecting end users' personal data better. In spite of such significant effort, however, neither website/app owners nor their loyal audience are feeling satisfied with how things are going.

On the one hand, obtaining an informative individual's consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal data is, undoubtedly, a valuable step forward on the way of protecting people's sensitive information. On the other hand, a necessity to obtain such consent in a transparent manner frequently results in the display of huge website popups, barely comprehensible to their reader.

Related: The Technologies Consumers Can Use to Combat Fraud

More importantly, given that illegitimate data brokers have been abusing loopholes in the current regulations over the past years, the rules and requirements are likely to become even stricter in future. Namely, while the surveys prove users' understanding of consent requests hasn't improved much since their introduction, the continuously growing requirements towards message transparency (and new checkboxes) will inevitably make the popup even bigger.

Cookie notices to get more noticeable

As for the cookie notices, these will undergo significant changes in 2022, too. In particular, the Chamber of Deputies of the Chezh Republic, for instance, has already voted for the change of requirements toward the cookie notice banners starting from Jan. 1, 2022. And some other European countries, like Italy, are already following its lead.

Add it to the general shift from opt-out to opt-in principles in how the notice itself should work, and the upcoming deprecation of cookies in Chrome won't seem such devastating news after all.

Related: 8 Ways a Data Breach Could Take Out Your Company Tomorrow

Getting started with to-do lists for 2022

First things first, 2022 will definitely become the high time for publishers to develop and/or upgrade their data strategy in view of the upcoming CPRA, new regulations and expected updates in terms of the users' consent to cookie collection and use for ad purposes.

While the acquisition of customers' zero-party data (voluntarily provided to publishers in exchange for an incentive) will require particular attention and extra prep, the main focus will definitely remain on the first-party data, most valuable for direct inventory monetization with premium demand partners.

In addition, given the unsurprising news on the more lenient Apple's attitude towards Meta's and Snap's data practices on iOS 15, the use of customer data in cohorts will become somewhat common practice in programmatic advertising in 2022.

As for the size of the consent popups on publishers' websites and apps, this aspect will mostly depend on how the digital-ad market as a whole will be adopting new, industry-wide standards, like IAB's Global Privacy Platform, and the specific CMP they're utilizing, of course.

Stay tuned and attuned, as the year portends many fascinating changes ahead.