Beyond Third-Party Cookies: Community and Consumer Privacy in the Metaverse

As brands move into the new digital frontier, they need to build and maintain customer trust

The metaverse is no longer just a buzzword. Brands and their marketers are investing money in determining how to take advantage of this new way of reaching and interacting with consumers.

In this virtual world, people are using digital avatars to work, play and shop, and brands like Nike, Coca-Cola and Gucci are already venturing into it.

However, when shaping their metaverse strategy, brand marketers need to consider the privacy implications of reaching audiences through advertising as we move beyond third-party cookies to Web3.

Consumers don’t always like to be tracked on the sites they visit. So the increased level of personal information available through their interactions in the metaverse means that respect for consumer privacy is even more necessary. How can brands build consumer trust as they explore a new platform?

Firstly, brands must consciously deal with transparency. A recent survey found that 84% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that prioritize the use of personal information with a privacy-safe approach. Brands must provide users with easy-to-understand, clear information about the ‘what’ and ‘why’ reasons surrounding the collection, processing and retention of personal data.

It is essential that companies also follow design principles such as purpose limitation, data minimization and pseudonymization techniques, and implement privacy-enhancing technologies such as data cleanrooms. And finally, brands need to be held accountable by making sure they can demonstrate everything they say about protecting users in their privacy policies. These should outline their methodology and include conducting annual audits to test those processes.

These privacy compliance tools should already exist around branding on other platforms, and they just need to be adapted for the metaverse. The key is to continually draw on industry thought leadership to work together to build, refine and improve solutions that can scale and meet the compliance needs of this new digital frontier.

The metaverse and privacy implications

Until policymakers develop specific and detailed regulations for the metaverse, brand marketers will have to forge their own path to maintain consumer trust.

To do this, brands must be guided by a data ethics approach to ensure that consumer-first results are privacy-first results. If the original design plan feels invasive, marketers need to rethink how to achieve business goals in a way that minimizes damage to individual privacy.

Differences in privacy laws have evolved between countries and states. This is due to different approaches by government and society in balancing rights between individuals and companies.

For example the EUs GDPR identifies personal data as belonging to the individual. In comparison: California’s CCPA gives privacy rights to individuals as consumers under a consumer protection law. As a result, it is impossible to tailor a one-size-fits-all approach.

The most promising solution to this challenge is the development and full implementation of sector-wide self-regulatory policies. The IAB Tech Lab does essential work toward this goal.

Strategizing for data privacy in the metaverse

Community and consent can co-exist in the metaverse, and brands should prioritize this harmony in their strategies.

Brands should take advantage of the opportunity to deliver better, broader and more sophisticated brand experiences without being intrusive in this new virtual environment. They may also push for regulations and laws that discourage violations of user privacy and misuse of data collection to emphasize how much they value the privacy of personal data.

The metaverse is a community-driven space and the relationship with the first party is too often overlooked. By communicating directly with consumers, brands and publishers can return to the essence of their relationship with consumers and collect data that is provided directly to them.

Fiona Campbell-Webster is Chief Privacy Officer at MediaMath.