2018: The Year of Data Security

by Roy de Souza, founder and CEO, ZEDO

It doesn’t take much to predict that 2018 will be the year of enhanced online security. We were headed toward more emphasis on consumer privacy anyway, but the massive Equifax data breach forced every consumer to face what geeks have known for ages: that left to their own devices, the companies that collect, handle and sell our data do not care about keeping us safe. We have to be in charge of our own data security. This event will change the thinking of just about every American on the internet, and since the Europeans already relish their privacy and have begun to take steps to enhance it, we can look forward to a real difference in how marketers, developers, and publishers operate online.

Here’s what we think will happen in 2018:

1. Apple, which has made security a differentiator in its products for a long time, will block cookies automatically in Safari 11. All the major marketing trade groups are fighting this, saying they are “deeply concerned” with Apple’s plan to override and replace user cookie preferences with a set of Apple’s own standards. This is called “Intelligent Tracking Prevention,” will provide consumers the gift of a 24-hour limit on ad retargeting. So that pair of shoes can only follow you around on the internet for 24 hours.
2. A new browser, Brave, developed by the inventor of Javascript and the former CEO of Mozilla, loads news sits two to eight times faster than Chrome or Firefox by blocking ads and trackers by default. Through Brave’s use of blockchain technology, it pays content creators viewed through its browser in micro payments. The block chain is coming to advertising in other use cases as well, mostly to make the digital media supply chain more transparent. We predict Brave will catch on with the geeks who favor ad blocking and security, although the general public probably won’t know it exists.
3. The big Kahuna of changes is the launch of the Global Data Privacy Regulation in May 2018. The GDPR, as it is lovingly referred to, affects how marketers can interact with European consumers: they can only market to a consumer who gives permission. Because this regulation was passed by the European Commission, it carries the force of law and if you violate its terms you can be liable for a hefty fine.

Although the UK is in the process of Brexiting the EU, because its companies handle so much data from EU members it will follow the conventions of the GDPR. America will be dragged along kicking and screaming, because most online businesses do not have a convenient window into where every data point comes from, it will be easiest simply to comply.

4. There will be a major business opportunity here as small businesses who haven’t paid much attention to these issues in the past re-examine how they handle customer data or who they partner with.

5. And then there’s the obvious windfall for companies that sell data security solutions, which will not be far more appealing.

There may also be a change in advertising from an emphasis on performance ads based on data to brand ads, which do not involve having to violate privacy by tracking consumers around the web.