Compliant Launches Publisher Platform to Combat Illegal Data Sharing
In response to the pressing issue of illegal data sharing on digital publishing platforms, Compliant, a leading data compliance technology company, has introduced a new publisher platform. This platform utilizes advanced AI, termed Compliant Audit Technology, to identify and eradicate compliance risks and vulnerabilities within a publisher’s site. The move follows alarming findings by Compliant, revealing a significant number of U.S. publishers unknowingly sharing consumer data with third parties before obtaining consent, putting data compliance at risk.
Understanding the Data Compliance Landscape
The digital landscape is experiencing a paradigm shift in data compliance, with Compliant™ leading the charge. The company’s Audit Technology deploys artificial intelligence to scrutinize publishers’ sites, ensuring the proper operation of adtech and martech solutions while identifying potential risks. A recent study by Compliant, examining over one billion impressions from more than 1,000 programmatic media campaigns, highlighted critical issues in the current state of data compliance among U.S. publishers. Key findings included:
- Consent Mechanisms Rendered Meaningless: Almost all U.S. publishers (91%) using Consent Management Platforms pass consumer data to third parties before obtaining consent.
- Elevated Data Leakage Risk: Approximately 82% of U.S. publishers face heightened data leakage risk due to an excessive number of vendors and unauthorized ‘piggybacked’ tags.
- Proliferation of Data Brokers: On average, U.S. publishers have 5 data brokers acquiring consumer data from their websites.
Addressing the Gap
Jamie Barnard, CEO of Compliant, shed light on the critical need for addressing the gap between consumer expectations, legal requirements, and industry practices. He stated, “The ad-funded internet was not designed with privacy in mind. It was designed to solve identity, addressability, conversion, and so on. Consequently, there’s an alarming gap between what the consumer expects, what the law requires, and what is happening in practice.”
He further explained that advertiser demand for safer media is motivating publishers to bridge this gap. Compliant aims to assist publishers in adapting and improving their practices to align with evolving data compliance standards. “We are offering publishers the tools to adapt and improve. Compliance is becoming the hallmark for premium inventory, and media investment will flow to those who take control of unintended sharing,” Mr. Barnard added.
The Compliant Platform
The newly launched Compliant platform provides publishers with a detailed analysis of over 30 factors across six primary areas of data compliance risk. This transparency empowers publishers to showcase compliance, monetizing their inventory as media spend increasingly shifts from lower-quality, higher-risk options.
Industry Insights: Newsbreak’s Perspective
Newsbreak, a prominent global news platform, recognizes the industry-wide challenges related to data management and compliance. Scott Kelliher, Chief Revenue Officer of NewsBreak, stated, “But Compliant is working to create a healthy and viable media ecosystem by helping publishers identify and address data sharing and leakage to meet customer privacy expectations and make inventory more valuable to advertisers and agencies.”
Expanding the Suite of Solutions
The launch of the publisher solution is an expansion of Compliant’s suite of products supporting various facets of the digital marketing and media business. This development follows a recent partnership with Peer39, a leading global provider of pre-bid contextual suitability and quality solutions. That collaboration allowed Peer39’s customers—advertisers, agencies, and publishers—to measure data compliance for their programmatic media campaigns for the first time.
We applaud Compliant’s efforts to help shape the future of data compliance in digital publishing. The unveiling of the publisher platform signifies a desire to addressing the challenges posed by illegal data sharing, with the ultimate goal of fostering a secure and responsible media ecosystem. Time will tell if these tools and insights help to ensure compliance and build trust among publishers, advertisers, and consumers alike.
