In case you were not aware – GDPR has taken effect in Europe – this is huge for anyone in the marketing and advertising field. This is a good for people to know that are not heavily advertising globally, but really does not affect you or your company 100% just yet.

Unless you do business in the state of California. It may be coming sooner than we think. The California Consumer Privacy Act is the California version of GDPR. Companies would have to tell any California residents what kind of personal information they are collecting about them if they ask to know. If this data is then sold, the consumer again has the right to know, as well as request to have all data removed. If it is not removed in a specific time period, hefty fines will be issued.

Just what is exactly included under “personal information?” The common things you would normally think of: name, mailing address, social security number and driver’s license number. It also includes demographic and job-related data. On the digital side, it could be email address and/or IP address. However, it also includes, web browsing history, search histories, what people do on a site or how they interact with an ad. Gone would be the days of retargeting consumers … but only if they live in California.

How does this effect the media landscape?

Advertisers will still be able to target ads to those living in California; however, utilizing third-party data segments and retargeting will definitely be affected, and advertisers would only be allowed to ask consumers to reconsider their opt-out decision once a year.

How does this affect those who are vacationing or traveling for work? Only time will tell, as a final ballot decision will be made any day now. For now, we wait …