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.
"In 2018, everyone said GDPR would be the end of advertising in Europe. And lo and behold, we can still advertise in Europe."
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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"Privacy in this universe is about trust between advertiser, user, and the intermediaries who facilitate that relationship."
Host Tell us about your background in privacy governance.
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.
Host What was GDPR like and what happened?
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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