On to Paris by train!!

What an incredible city!!  I noticed a couple of things right away:

1 – The French make riding a scooter look cool…

2 – I’m convinced that bread and pastries are actually good for you because everyone in Paris is skinny!!

3 – Am I really sitting in an open air café, looking at the Arc de Triomphe on a Friday afternoon?!?!

I tried speaking with several “locals” (that spoke English) and no one knew what GDPR was. They hadn’t noticed anything had changed about the way they operated online. The only thing I can tell is that there are more ads to ensure I’m GDPR compliant in my Facebook feed and details about the fine I would receive if not.

So for the sake of my new French Friends, a bit of a review.  GDPR has been implemented in all local privacy laws across the entire EU and EEA region.  It applies to companies selling to and storing personal info on consumers in Europe, including companies on other continents (which impacts companies in the U.S. that have operations in Europe).  It provides consumers in the EU and EEA greater control over their personal data and assurances that their information is being securely protected.   

According to the GDPR directive, personal data is any information related to a person such as a name, a photo, an email address, bank details, updates on social networking websites, location details, medical information, or a computer IP address.

I know it’s only a matter of time before similar regulations are implemented here.  If/when this happens, we must have input into what the regulations will be and how it will impact our businesses.  As sellers of Digital Advertising, Data is king!!  Without data, we remove the core component that makes Digital so effective.  If you remove the ability to target by location, demo, psycho and so much more, online advertising loses its advantage over traditional with its “mass marketing” approach.

Best,

Mark