Unlocking Privacy Enhancing Technologies in marketing and advertising

FEDMA publishes today its paper aiming to provide an overview of the main privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) currently utilised by marketers, shedding light on the substantial benefits PETs can offer for both consumers and businesses, but also the current challenges hindering a faster and broader uptake of these crucial technologies. The analysis is informed not only by ongoing policy and technical discussions but also by the results of an internal survey conducted by FEDMA among its members to better understand how marketers are currently approaching PETs. As PETs have the potential to improve on data protection outcomes and better align with consumer expectations for privacy, transparency and safety, while unlocking and sustaining the benefits of digital marketing, it is imperative for both the industry and policymakers to collaboratively support the investment, development, and widespread adoption of PETs. By embracing solutions that allow for data utility while minimizing personal data exposure, we can cultivate an ecosystem where personalised experiences are delivered securely and ethically, ultimately strengthening consumer trust and ensuring a sustainable and responsible future for the digital economy in the EU.

Digital marketing provides substantial benefits directly to European consumers:

• Consumers receive an estimated €212 in free online services per month (e.g. news, email and search engines), largely sustained by digital advertising (Source: IAB Europe, Kantar Media, Optimisation Over Reform [...], April 2025).
• 80% of consumers find online ads useful and prefer fewer, more relevant ads over generic, mass-distributed ones (Source: CIPL & Public First, The Impact of Digital Advertising on Europe's Competitiveness [...], March 2025).
• When encountering a helpful ad, over 70% consumers describe it as a positive experience.
• Digital advertising helps consumers discover products and services, compare prices, and access product reviews, reducing uncertainty and boosting purchasing confidence.

In parallel, increasing privacy and safety expectations is reshaping consumers’ trust in personalized marketing. As individuals grow more aware of how their data is collected and used online, they increasingly prioritise transparency, control, and data protection as drivers of the trust that they place in an organization.

PETs to bridge the value of digital marketing with the increasing demand for privacy

With this reality in mind, FEDMA’s paper outlines the main PETs used by marketers, the benefits PETs bring but also the challenges to broader uptake. The findings reflect current policy and technical discussions and provides insights from an internal survey of FEDMA's members on how marketers approach PETs in practice.

“PETs” refers to multiple tools, technologies and techniques used to improve security, maintain user privacy, through an additional layer of protection, for instance, by minimizing the amount of data processed by third parties. PETs include Differential Privacy, Federated Learning, Homomorphic encryption, Pseudonymisation, Anonymisation, Secure Multi-Party Computation and Trusted Execution Environments.

FEDMA’s paper provides clear definitions of the above-mentioned types of PETs and practical use cases in data-driven marketing and personalized advertising.

Insights from FEDMA’s member survey

FEDMA carried out the study between June and August 2025 to collect insights into the adoption and application of PETs within data-driven marketing practices. More specifically, FEDMA’s paper further delves into: (i) PETs’ benefits to business and consumers; (ii) regulatory, legal, economic and operational barriers slowing PETs’ uptake; and (iii) policy recommendations for industry and policymakers to support PET deployment.