Compliance ≠ Privacy

These two words get confused a lot. But they are not the same thing.

Compliance means you follow the rules. Check the boxes. Pass the audit. It is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

Plenty of companies have learned this the hard way.

Facebook was "compliant" when Cambridge Analytica blew up. It did not matter.

Healthline thought they were following CCPA's rules. The California Attorney General found a way to get them anyway.

Compliance may keep you legal in one moment. But as soon as the rules change, you are at risk.

The difference between compliance and privacy?

Compliance is doing things right. Privacy is doing the right thing.

Compliance is about regulators. Privacy is about people.

I believe empathy sits at the core of privacy.

It is about asking: How would this feel to the person on the other end of the ad? Would they be comfortable with how their data was used? Would you?

As laws evolve, compliance will always be a moving target.

Building empathy into your privacy program is how you future proof campaigns.