In 2006, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to designate 28 January as Data Protection Day. This day is now celebrated worldwide, under the name “International Data Protection Day” or “Data Privacy Day”.
New Digital Age gathered industry reaction to the 20th Data Privacy Data, which took place yesterday (28 March 2026)…
Paul Blackledge, Chief Technology Officer, RAAS LAB:
“Data Privacy Day shouldn’t just be a reminder about compliance; it should be a call for a change. In the world of digital advertising, the industry has relied on invasive targeting for too long, applying fix after fix to a broken tech stack. Now global data-protection regulations are tightening and third-party identifiers continue to disappear, but the reality is advertisers don’t need audience profiles to drive performance. Instead, we must shift the focus from putting users into historical data buckets to understanding in-moment audiences.
“Analysing real-time context and intent – the content they’re reading right now, rather than who they were yesterday – is far stronger and safer. Relevance drives results, and it is fast becoming the only privacy-safe method left.”
Denise Cornelissen, Head of Product Marketing, RTB House:
“Data Privacy Day brings the industry a well-needed reminder of a topic that should be considered year-round – end-user privacy should be at the heart of every decision being made across the advertising ecosystem. While understanding user intent is hugely important, it cannot undermine quality controls or regulatory standards.
“This is where AI, particularly Deep Learning, can be instrumental in driving success in privacy-safe ways, as it uses limited amounts of data. Brands can still achieve better results by leveraging this deep understanding of consumer behaviour to predict intent and personalise messaging. This means that engagement with real audiences is maximised, and landed clicks and sessions are optimised.”
Mateusz Rumiński, VP of Product at PrimeAudience:
“Although it is a year-round responsibility, Data Privacy Day serves as a reminder that compliance can no longer be treated as a simple ‘check-the-box’ exercise. Automated workflows and chat-based interfaces have become central to how brands interact with consumers, who expect transparency but don’t want to feel monitored. That means automation needs to respect consent boundaries by design, with the technology learning and adapting, to ensure privacy is embedded in the workflow.
“Another area of interest is how advances in large language models are changing how brands understand audiences. It has to be remembered that traditional ID-keyed user profiles can quickly become stale and pose compliance risks. LLMs, in comparison, take a different approach, enabling contextual understanding based on real-time signals and the content itself. This shift reduces reliance on personal identifiers and builds trust by minimising unnecessary data collection, without minimising the need for relevant, real-time experiences.
“The future of privacy-forward innovation lies in systems that are both compliant and adaptive, where automation, intelligence and respect for user data reinforce each other rather than compete.”
Rick Jones, RVP Western and Southern Europe, Adform:
“As diplomatic relations between the US and Europe become icy, trust in the privacy safeguards underpinning the transatlantic digital bridge becomes further eroded. Data Privacy Day’s 2026’s theme, ‘Reset or Refine?’, arrives as GDPR enters its tenth year and marks its toughest test yet.
“We are now in the age of retaliatory tech. The US administration actively threatens the EU-US Data Privacy Framework while American platforms squeeze European businesses and governments in an increasingly toxic fashion. In digital advertising, we see giants fighting regulatory lawsuits while simultaneously restricting legitimate data access to ‘mark their own homework’ on attribution. Add in the uncertainty of AI bots still being largely unregulated, and the result is a supply chain that is increasingly both intrusive and opaque.
“Europe cannot build its future on such fragile, unbalanced ground. Our industry leaders must champion a strategic reset to home-grown technology that embodies European values of sovereignty. This includes ensuring business continuity and freedom of action, guaranteeing that your access to customers and outcomes cannot be leveraged as a bargaining chip in a trade war.”
The companies mentioned above are clients of Bluestripe Group, the publisher of New Digital Age.
