FEDMA Unveils New Paper on Marketers’ Perspectives on PETs at High‑Level Brussels Event
Brussels, 2 February 2026 —FEDMA hosted a high‑level lunch event last week to officially launch its new paper, “The marketers’ perspective on unlocking Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) in personalised marketing and advertising communications.” The gathering brought together Bjoern Juretzki, Head of Unit "Data Policy and Innovation" at DG CONNECT, Isabelle Vereecken, Head of the Secretariat at the EDPB, Stefano Rossetti, Policy Advisor at BEUC, as well as senior representatives from leading industry bodies, highlighting the strategic relevance of PETs in Europe’s evolving digital and regulatory landscape.
PETs at the Heart of Responsible, Data‑Driven Innovation
Opening the event, FEDMA emphasised that digital marketing delivers significant value to European consumers, offering an estimated €212 per month in free online services, powered largely by digital advertising. Consumers increasingly expect relevant, helpful advertising, yet demand stronger privacy, transparency, and control over their data.
Against this backdrop, FEDMA’s paper explores how Privacy‑Enhancing Technologies—including pseudonymisation, anonymisation, secure multi‑party computation—can bridge the gap between personalisation and privacy.
A Critical Moment for PETs in Europe
Participants noted that the release of the study comes at a pivotal time, as recent legal and policy developments reshape the interpretation and future use of pseudonymisation and other PETs in the EU.
FEDMA highlighted the implications of the EUCJ SRB case (EDPS v SRB C‑413/23P), which confirmed that pseudonymised data held by a processor—where re‑identification is not reasonably possible—should not be considered personal data. This ruling has already informed the European Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposal, which updates the GDPR’s definition of anonymisation and paves the way for an implementing act outlining criteria for when pseudonymised data is no longer personal data.
Overall, participants from across the spectrum overwhelmingly agreed on the opportunities that PETs represent to support privacy by design (Tasos Stampelos, Mozilla); to make advertising compliant (Natascha Gerlach, CIPL); or to protect data minimisation and purpose limitation (Rob Van Eijk, Future for Privacy Forum). But to ensure scalability of PETs and reduce the cost of compliance, standardisation is needed for broader adoption (Ena Salihovic, Zalando). Finally, to ensure a level playing field and coherent landscape, the importance of clarifying the definition of personal data must go through the deletion of article 5.3 of the ePrivacy Directive (Peter Craddock, Keller and Heckman), as leaving it intact will leave the industry with no other choice than consent.
A Call for Collaboration
Concluding the event, FEDMA invited all stakeholders to share input, questions and feedback to contribute to a shared understanding of how PETs can unlock new opportunities for trustworthy, privacy‑respecting data‑driven marketing across Europe.
