As streaming reinvents itself to present its subscribers as the product being sold to advertisers in return for lower subscription costs, we see some interesting new questions around data privacy rise with it. Previously only a concern for social media platforms and Big Tech companies, the push into AVOD tiers from companies like Disney and Netflix may create more thorny privacy issues for itself than previously anticipated. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A, dives deeper into some of the complications.
Advertising Evolution
With the social media boom came a bunch of thorny data harvesting questions. Despite the appeals of ‘targeted ads’ and ‘personalization’, we’ve seen some serious pushback against the commodifying of people’s personal data. Both California and the EU have tightened their privacy laws. Apple has also willingly cracked down on third-party data harvesting on their technology. And many browsers now use the reduction of intrusive monitoring as selling points for their software.
Yet the advertising industry itself still heavily favors data harvesting to reach new target consumers in an increasingly crowded market. While it hasn’t received much press attention, of course, it’s inevitable that the new shift of streamers into the advertising space will begin to look like an attractive proposition indeed. Especially with the treasure trove of data that can be harvested from people’s entertainment choices.
New Questions
Classified as ‘first-party’ data- data gleaned directly from the platform by the platform, rather than by other users, this turn against third-party data could position viewers as a juicy mine of data ripe for the using. And let’s be honest- this is why both Disney and NBCUniversal are making strides to centralize the data they glean from their live-action locations as well as streaming media.
However, introducing this to the entertainment landscape will not be hassle-free. Risks of issues like data leaks, and broader questions around people-as-commodities, are inevitable. People are increasingly aware of the data being harvested around them, and kick-back is inevitable. How this will change both the entertainment and advertising landscape in the future is currently debatable- but its evolution will be interesting to watch indeed.
