Marketers can often target audiences using information gathered directly from customers, visitors or app users, or by matching ads to the content of a page or a search query. Neither approach is automatically privacy-safe: the purpose, notice, legal basis, audience expectations, data sensitivity, location and platform rules all matter. A practical starting point is to collect only what a stated campaign needs, explain how it will be used, limit retention and sharing, and give people the choices required by the rules that apply to them.
Start with the purpose, not the data you happen to have
There is no universal list of data that marketers can use without invading privacy. Permission depends on the jurisdiction, the people being targeted, the data and advertising channel, the campaign purpose, and the roles of the advertiser, vendors and platforms.
Before building an audience, define what the campaign is meant to do and ask what information is genuinely necessary to do it. The European Commission’s GDPR guidance explains that the type and amount of personal data an organization may process depend on the reason and intended use. It highlights lawful and transparent processing, specific purposes disclosed at collection, data minimization and accuracy. These principles are useful for planning, but GDPR requirements apply in their relevant scope; they are not a universal rulebook for every advertiser.
- Purpose: State the campaign objective and the intended advertising use of each data element.
- Necessity: Leave out information that does not materially serve that objective.
- Transparency and choice: Tell people what is collected and how it will be used, and provide applicable consent, objection or other rights mechanisms.
- Controls: Restrict access, keep information accurate, and set a retention period tied to the purpose.
How common targeting approaches differ
| Approach | What it uses | Privacy questions to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| First-party audience | Information collected through the advertiser’s own customer, website, app or store interactions. | Was the intended advertising use explained, and is there an appropriate legal basis and any required choice? Does the data involve sensitive interests or other platform restrictions? |
| Contextual targeting | The content of the page someone is viewing or the query they made, rather than necessarily a persistent profile of that person. | Does the ad-delivery system also process identifiers or other personal information? Do the applicable privacy and platform rules allow the implementation? |
| Partner- or vendor-supplied list | Contact or audience data collected by another organization and supplied for campaign use. | Can the advertiser demonstrate lawful collection and permission for this recipient, purpose and channel? Are notice, accuracy, objections and channel-specific rules addressed? |
| Precise location, cross-site retargeting or sensitive-data targeting | Location precise enough to identify a small area, activity across sites, or information such as health, financial or biometric data. | These uses warrant heightened scrutiny. Is the use necessary, expected and permitted, and are meaningful consent and other applicable safeguards in place? |
First-party data is a source description, not a blanket permission
“First-party” describes how an organization obtained information; it does not establish that every later use is allowed. A customer email, purchase history or app interaction may have been collected directly, but the advertiser still needs to consider the stated purpose, the person’s expectations, the applicable legal basis and any relevant choice or objection rights.
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Google Ads policy defines first-party data as information gathered from customers, site visitors and app users through interactions with the advertiser’s products and services, including its own sites, apps and physical stores. The policy permits advertisers to use such data to create audiences for targeting, subject to personalized-advertising restrictions, including sensitive-interest restrictions. That is a platform policy, not a legal safe harbor: platform acceptance does not prove that the collection and use comply with applicable law.
Contextual advertising can reduce reliance on personal profiles
Contextual targeting selects an ad based on the page being viewed or a query, rather than relying on a continuing record of a person’s activity across unrelated contexts. In a 2009 discussion of online behavioral advertising, FTC staff described contextual ads as involving little or no data storage and said contextual and first-party advertising could raise fewer privacy concerns than other behavioral advertising. The report is historical analysis, not a description of every current ad-delivery system.
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Contextual does not mean anonymous by definition. An implementation may still involve identifiers or other personal information in the delivery or measurement process, so assess the actual technology and applicable rules rather than judging it by the label alone.
Purchased and partner-supplied audiences need provenance
A vendor’s assurance that a list is compliant is not, by itself, evidence that a particular advertiser may use it for a particular campaign. The European Commission’s guidance on third-party contact lists says an organization acquiring a list must be able to demonstrate lawful collection and permission for advertising use. If consent is the basis, it should cover transmission to other recipients for their own direct marketing.
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The acquiring organization also needs to consider whether the list is accurate and up to date, how people can object to direct marketing, what notice must be provided, and whether channel-specific rules apply. For example, email marketing may also be subject to ePrivacy requirements. A permission to receive messages from the original collector does not automatically establish permission for another organization’s advertising or for a different channel.
Use extra care with location, retargeting, sensitive data and children
These categories can reveal intimate details, create unexpected tracking or affect people with less ability to assess the consequences. Treat them as heightened-risk cases rather than routine audience inputs.
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- Precise location: A 2024 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat notice for Canadian federal institutions recommends avoiding precise neighborhood or small-radius geotargeting and limiting personal information. It is a concrete privacy-protective example, not a rule that binds every advertiser.
- Cross-site retargeting: The same Canadian notice recommends avoiding retargeting across websites. Before using activity from one context to follow someone elsewhere, examine expectations, applicable consent requirements and the platform’s rules.
- Sensitive information: The Canadian notice recommends avoiding sensitive information such as financial, biometric or health data for digital advertising. Other jurisdictions and platforms may impose specific limits; do not assume ordinary targeting rules apply.
- Children: For services covered by the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the FTC’s January 2025 announcement of finalized rule amendments says operators must obtain separate verifiable parental consent before disclosing children’s personal information to third parties for targeted advertising. The announcement also describes retention limits tied to the specific purpose. Confirm coverage, effective dates and current requirements before relying on this summary.
Rules vary by jurisdiction and by platform
Do not treat legal requirements, regulator guidance and platform policies as interchangeable. GDPR principles apply within their scope; COPPA applies to covered child-directed services and other entities within its scope; and channel rules may add requirements. Google Ads policy determines what the platform permits, not what the law permits.
In July 2025, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office described a proposed enforcement approach exploring privacy-preserving advertising to users who had not consented where risks were demonstrably low. The ICO also said it would continue enforcing consent requirements for collecting personal information for targeted advertising. This was a proposal, not blanket approval for non-consensual targeting. Check the rules currently in force for the campaign’s audience and location rather than treating the proposal as a general exception.
Quick Recap
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A pre-campaign checklist
- Map the data: Record each audience field, its source, whether it identifies or relates to a person, and any sensitive or precise information it reveals.
- Write down the purpose: Specify what the campaign will do with the information. Do not quietly reuse it for a materially different purpose.
- Verify permissions and notice: Check the applicable legal basis, consent or other choice requirements, what people were told, and any objection or opt-out obligations.
- Check audience provenance: For partner or purchased data, obtain evidence covering collection, the intended recipient and use, and the relevant advertising channel.
- Minimize and set limits: Remove unnecessary fields, restrict who can access the audience, and set retention and deletion rules that match the stated purpose.
- Review geography, audience and channel: Identify the applicable privacy, children’s and communications rules, as well as current platform policies.
- Document the decision: Keep a record of the data source, purpose, permissions, notice, audience exclusions, retention and platform checks so the campaign can be reviewed later.
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