In an ever-evolving digital consumer landscape, privacy and ownership of data is increasingly important. Both from a regulatory perspective, with the likes of GDPR, DMA, CCPA and similar legislation around the world, but also from a technical perspective. As scrutiny of tech companies intensifies, many are rolling out new features designed to give users greater control over the collection and use of their data.
Against this backdrop, digital consumers increasingly expect highly personalised, seamless experiences when engaging with brands, whether in store, in apps, or on the web. This creates a challenge for technical marketers, who must find ways to collect performance data and use it to make informed decisions about experience optimisation and media mix.
Tighter legislation and more stringent implementation
As mentioned previously, increased legislation is being passed across many countries. It’s no longer just about GDPR (2018) in the UK and EU; — organisations must be open to change and ready to embrace it.
In the UK and EU, there have been more recent changes, with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into effect from 2nd May 2023 further strengthening data collection governance for large organisations such as Google. Further legislative changes are planned with the Data (Use and Access Bill), although it’s yet to be seen the impact this will have.
Internationally, the situation is similar, with the CCPA (2020) and American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) in the US in the works and more than 17 other countries with GDPR-like laws.
It’s not just new rules being created; governing bodies are now getting more serious with enforcing these. Recently, the UK’s ICO reviewed the top 200 websites in the UK and found concerns with 67% of these from a privacy perspective.
Why privacy-first measurement matters now
Growing public awareness around data collection and use has transformed the digital landscape. Users are taking greater control of their privacy — blocking ads, using VPNs, and choosing browsers or devices that limit tracking by default. For example, one in three browser users now use Apple’s Safari, and around three quarters of Apple users are on iOS 17 or newer — both of which include significant privacy and tracking protections enabled out of the box.
This user-led shift, combined with global regulatory change, is redefining how data can be collected and used. More than 75% of the world’s population is now covered by data privacy laws (Source: Gartner), and enforcement activity is accelerating. The result is a sharp decline in the volume of directly observable digital data available to marketers. To maintain accurate insights, many organisations are turning to modelled data — but the quality of those models depends on the strength and integrity of the underlying first-party data.
Against this backdrop, a privacy-safe measurement strategy is no longer optional; it is essential. It offers clear and measurable benefits, including:
- Improved campaign performance
- Increased user trust and transparency
- Compliance with evolving data privacy regulations
- More effective, sustainable marketing and measurement practices
Building the foundations of Privacy-First Measurement
Establishing the right data and technology foundations is essential to making privacy-first measurement a reality. As regulations tighten and user expectations rise, marketers must adopt solutions that balance compliance, transparency, and insight. The goal is not simply to protect data, but to create a measurement framework that enables smarter, more sustainable growth.
Modern analytics tools, such as Google Analytics 4 and complementary technologies, are designed with these principles in mind, empowering organisations to measure performance responsibly while maintaining the accuracy and depth needed for effective decision-making. Below are some key privacy and data foundation considerations that can help build a durable, future-ready measurement ecosystem:
- Google Analytics 4 is designed to provide a more comprehensive, privacy-focused, and future-proofed solution for understanding user behaviour across websites and apps. Some benefits from this include:
- IP anonymization: GA4 automatically anonymises IP addresses, aligning with privacy regulations like GDPR.
- User privacy: GA4 includes opt-out controls and flexible data retention settings, designed with user privacy at its core.
- Consent Mode: GA4 integrates with Google’s Consent Mode, allowing websites to adjust data collection based on user consent preferences.
- Enhanced Conversions & CAPI: Enhanced Conversions is a Google feature that improves the accuracy of your conversion measurement and unlocks powerful bidding from your media campaigns. It supplements existing conversion tracking by sending hashed first-party data to Google in a privacy-safe way. It is worth noting the importance of using this feature with a secure one-way hashing algorithm called SHA256 on any first-party customer data, such as email addresses.
- Conversions API (CAPI): CAPI is a tool that allows businesses to send customer and marketing data directly from their server to advertising platforms such as Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok. This unlocks powerful bidding by enhancing ad targeting with this server-to-server connection. It improves measurement and optimises ad campaigns from within the media tech stack.
- Google Tag Gateway: GTG allows the deployment of a Google tag using your own first-party infrastructure, hosted on your website domain. GTG infrastructure sits between a website and Google’s services. It can be set up by using a Content Delivery Network (DDN), load balancer, or web server.
Making a calculated first step
Before implementing any privacy-safe measurement solutions, it’s essential to understand their potential impact on your business. Merkle’s Privacy Impact Calculator provides that first step: offering a clear view of how privacy-first and durable measurement practices can drive better compliance, performance, and data quality.
As privacy experts, Merkle uses this tool to assess an organisation’s current measurement maturity and estimate the business impact both with and without durable solutions in place. The insights generated help identify where investment in technologies such as GA4, Consent Mode, Enhanced Conversions, or server-side tagging could deliver the greatest value.
The Privacy Impact Calculator highlights key opportunities by:
- Evaluating consent rate performance
- Assessing current sitewide tagging implementation
- Validating measurement impact with and without durable solutions
- Providing a detailed view of privacy maturity and adoption across the business
Organisations looking to build a privacy-safe, future-ready measurement framework can start with Merkle’s Privacy Impact Calculator to pinpoint the most valuable opportunities and create a clear roadmap towards durable, compliant, and high-performing analytics.
Privacy-safe measurement is essential for lasting growth
In today’s privacy-conscious world, privacy-safe measurement is not just best practice, it’s a non-negotiable foundation for sustainable growth. At Merkle, we see privacy not as a compliance challenge, but as a strategic enabler of trust, innovation, and performance. Organisations that embed privacy-first principles into their measurement frameworks are better equipped to unlock the full potential of their data; driving smarter decisions, more effective marketing, and future-ready growth in an increasingly regulated digital landscape.
At Merkle, we help brands build robust, privacy-safe data and durable data foundations with technical solutions. Our work & mission is to empower marketers with the clarity, precision and confidence needed to measure what really matters, make better decisions and deliver seamless customer experiences. If your team need support with your privacy-safe measurement strategy, get in touch with us: googletech@merkle.com
