Who owns the data ?
GLOBAL EVENT AUDITOR BPA PRESIDENT AND CEO GLENN HANSEN DISCUSSES THE NEED FOR STANDARDS IN DIGITAL EVENTS , INCLUDING DATA OWNERSHIP
n June 2020 , we at BPA Worldwide published an open letter to the industry on the subject of data leakage in the bidstream . It was still early days of the Covid pandemic and digital events were just becoming du jour . Our writing at that time pertained to the digital eco-system and the process of programmatic buying and selling . With the advent of the header bidder process , advertising inventory gets exposed to all interested parties simultaneously . To aid the buyers ’ evaluation process , the inventory that is available exposes user data to all those bidding on the ad space . It is designed to help advertisers reach the desired target audience with an efficient buying process . Makes sense .
However , what also happens is some data platforms bid on advertising space with no intention of winning the bid . Rather , they are there to harvest the data of web users and convert that data into products and services . The data harvester would then monetise to the detriment of the media company originally offering the user an advert .
Generally speaking , media companies were not aware of their users ’ data being harvested in the bid stream . The signatories to our open letter worked with BPA to refresh IAB standard terms and conditions to better address data ownership . ( Email me if you would like the suggested T & Cs : GHansen @ bpaww . com ).
So , what of the meetings and events industry ? Clearly the Covid-19 crisis has disrupted the industry as much as the travel industry ( and a few others ). As a result , we have witnessed a shift from in-person events to digital conference , meetings and events . This shift was quick and without much industry oversight for those digital event platforms ( DEPs ) providing the technology . ( It was last reported to me that there are more than 300 such companies offering services to organisers today .)
Organisers of digital events approached us as their face-to-face event auditor and asked what metrics should be used for attendance and exhibitors such that they could submit their digital event for ‘ approved status ’ by UFI ( the global association of the exhibition industry ) as they had done for in-person
“ Some data platforms bid on advertising space with no intention of winning the bid . Rather , they are there to harvest the data of web users .” events .
This prompted some research on our part and we found a general lack of standards across the DEPs . Terms were not commonly defined . Criteria necessary to meet a definition were not universal . There was no norm for the format of the data .
We organised a tripartite Reporting Standards for Digital Events ( RSDE ) working group comprised of exhibitor perspective , event organisers , data analysers , and DEPs to tackle the subject . Our project has three phases . First , to recommend digital event metrics to UFI for incorporation in its Auditing Rules for the Statistics of UFI Approved Events . Second , to establish digital event standards for a taxonomy , criteria , and data format , ‘ RSDE ’, as well as a compliance program to check that DEP technology adheres to the standards . Accomplishing this enables organisers to comparison shop in comfort . Third , to offer standard terms and conditions for organisers to consider when establishing data ownership with a digital event platform . We came upon phase three after asking ourselves , ‘ Are the DEPs similar to bidstream data harvesters ?’ When event organisers consider digital events and shop DEPs , are the organisers paying attention to contracts ? Are they addressing who owns the data , how the data is stored , and for what the data can be used ?
Some DEPs look to use data to create 24 / 7 / 365 marketplaces rather than one-off events . Are these marketplaces owned by the event organiser from whom attendee data is being collected ? Is attendee data to be anonymised and shared across all event organisers using the same DEP ?
Our working group completed phase one at the end of March . Phase two is now available for public comment . Phase three is being undertaken and we expect release for public comment by the end of September . I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter .
8 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 113