Nordic Privacy Arena 2018:
Keynote speaker: Raegan MacDonald, Mozilla
Advertising is the dominant business model of the internet today, and it has fueled the development of a range of quality user-focused products and services. However, the ecosystem that underpins it is unwell. Today, the online advertising ecosystem is defined by pervasive cross-site tracking, ad fraud and data leakage, and acute centralisation.
In 2018, we are starting to see the real impacts of this unsustainable approach. Citizens’ trust in the internet is at an all-time low, epitomised through statements such as “if you’re not paying, then you’re the product’. While online advertising is not a problem in and of itself, something about the ecosystem needs to change.
Luckily, we can envisage a sustainable, healthy internet ecosystem, where advertising-based online business models and user trust are not traded off against each other. A mix of technological innovation (e.g. smart tracking protection), legislation (e.g. the GDPR), and brand pressure can address some of the chronic issues that are leading users to install ad blockers in record numbers. This keynote will kick off that conversation.
