Episodes

Charles Simon: Privacy and Trust

Charles Simon, VP of Private Advertising at RTB House, on why privacy governance is about brand protection as much as legal compliance, how helping create the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework after GDPR showed that the industry can solve hard problems when it organises, and why the US state privacy law landscape is the next challenge the industry will face and overcome.

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 ·  The Business of Marketing  · S4 E69  · 32 min
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"In 2018, everyone said GDPR would be the end of advertising in Europe. And lo and behold, we can still advertise in Europe."

The Conversation with Justin Cooke

Why GDPR was not the end, why privacy is about brand protection as much as compliance, and how the industry solves hard problems

Charles Simon spent his career across Google, Nike, MediaMath, Oracle, and now RTB House, with a consistent focus on privacy governance and ad tech standards. His philosophical background, studying philosophy after growing up as the child of two attorneys, drew him to the genuinely unsolvable ethical problems of advertising: how do you serve a relevant ad to a user in an increasingly private universe where privacy means something different to everyone?

In this conversation he describes what it was like to help develop the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework after GDPR threatened to end targeted advertising in Europe, why data governance is about brand protection and competitive advantage as much as legal compliance, and why the proliferation of US state privacy laws, now at 19 states with serious consequences, is the next test the industry will face and ultimately navigate.

Key Takeaways

  • This industry thrives on existential crises. GDPR in 2018 felt like the end. We built the Transparency and Consent Framework in months and we can still advertise in Europe.
  • Privacy governance is about trust: between advertiser, user, and all the intermediaries who facilitate that relationship. And it is about brand protection: your first-party data should not benefit your competitors.
  • 19 US states have passed privacy laws with serious consequences for ad tech. We will face those and do the right thing and counter them, as we have done before.
  • The most interesting unsolvable problem in advertising: how do you serve a relevant ad to a user in an increasingly private universe where privacy means something different to everyone?
  • Trust is the precondition. When it exists, the ecosystem works. When it is absent, everything breaks down.

Topics Covered

  1. 01 Why GDPR felt like the end and why it was not
  2. 02 The IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework: building consent infrastructure in months
  3. 03 Why privacy governance is about brand protection as much as legal compliance
  4. 04 The US state privacy law landscape: 19 states and growing
  5. 05 Trust as the foundation of the advertiser-user relationship and all the intermediaries between them

Key Exchanges

05
01 How did you end up specialising in privacy governance?

I was born the product of two attorneys and decided I wanted to do something different. I studied philosophy instead. I think deeply about ethical quandaries. After some time in the Senate and working on regulating the broader ad tech ecosystem, I ended up at the intersection of privacy law and advertising technology.

The philosophical background that makes him uniquely suited to unsolvable problems.

02 What was GDPR like when it landed in 2018?

Everyone looked around and said, Europe has just passed this law called GDPR. I think it is the end of advertising. Everyone freaked out a little. And then they said, we will create a task force. We will fix it. I was on that task force. And lo and behold, we can still advertise in Europe, granted with interesting constraints.

The industry's response to what felt like an existential crisis.

03 How is privacy governance about brand protection?

Data governance and privacy is about trust between the advertiser and the user and the intermediaries who facilitate engagement. But it is also about brand protection and the ability to ensure that the data you glean, your most valuable first-party data, is not going to benefit others. It is not leaving your universe.

Two dimensions: regulatory compliance and competitive protection of first-party data.

04 What is happening with US state privacy laws?

We are bridging from national law into the state law universe. California and Texas and Colorado and 19 states actually, they are passing laws that have serious consequences in our universe. So we will face those and we will do the right thing and counter them as well.

The next version of the GDPR challenge.

05 Why does the industry keep surviving its existential crises?

This industry thrives on existential crises. I really believe that. Each time there is a crisis, whether GDPR or cookie deprecation or privacy laws, the industry organises, creates task forces, builds frameworks, and comes out with something that works within the new constraints. It is not the end. It is adaptation.

The meta-pattern of ad tech history.

S4 E69Season & Episode
32 minDuration
19 US states with privacy laws having serious consequences for the ad tech industry
720M People covered by GDPR across Europe, the regulation that changed everything

"Privacy in this universe is about trust between advertiser, user, and the intermediaries who facilitate that relationship."

Hear Charles on
The Business of Marketing
Season 4 Episode 69 32 min
Apple Podcasts→ Spotify→ Charles's full profile→ Charles on LinkedIn→
Read the full transcript
Lightly edited for readability.

Justin Cooke Tell us about your background in privacy governance.

Charles Simon I am the product of two attorneys, studied philosophy instead, and ended up at the intersection of privacy law and advertising technology. My career has spanned Google, Nike, MediaMath, Oracle, and now RTB House, consistently focused on how you serve relevant advertising in an increasingly private universe.

Justin Cooke What was GDPR like and what happened?

Charles Simon 2018, everyone said it was the end of advertising in Europe. We created a task force at IAB Europe. I helped build the Transparency and Consent Framework. Lo and behold, we can still advertise in Europe. This industry thrives on existential crises. Privacy is about trust between advertiser, user, and intermediaries. And brand protection: your first-party data should not benefit competitors.

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