The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the state’s law that gives its residents greater control over the collection and use of their personal information, went into effect on July 1, 2020. In order to comply with CCPA, Facebook recently introduced a new feature for businesses called Limited Data Use (LDU), which restricts how Facebook stores and processes data belonging to users who are residents of California.
Why LDU Should Matter to Pharma Marketers
LDU was implemented in July with a transition period ending October 20, 2020. LDU will require businesses with campaigns targeting California residents to update their pixels — the snippets of code that let advertisers gather valuable information about website visitors and the actions they take. Beginning on October 20, pixels must include an LDU parameter.
“One of the biggest issues with LDU (in compliance with CCPA) is the fact that data coming out of Facebook and pertaining to California residents will be limited,” said Justin Chase, Intouch Group EVP/Head of Innovation & Media. “This means that we need to manage campaigns with California residents separately so as not to not skew our measurement and KPI tracking. Ultimately we know that this is only the start of what will amount to some kind of ameliorated process as other states have similar, CCPA-like policies, in the works.”
Unlike Europe’s GDPR, which requires end users to opt in, CCPA is an ‘opt-out’ focused law. This means that in California, a visitor is automatically being tracked (if that’s what the site has enabled), and sites are required to include language that allows a user to opt out of being tracked. On Facebook, that opt-out then equates to an opt-in for LDU. *Tracked, in this instance, means the collection, processing and sale of personal information.
Next Steps
Intouch is working with clients to ensure their Facebook pixels are updated accordingly to align with LDU. Intouch does anticipate increasingly limited Facebook data associated with California audiences, especially as most clients have not yet included the CCPA required opt-out language on their sites. When they do, we anticipate a decrease in results from California residents on Facebook.
Not sure if your brand is ready for Facebook’s LDU? Reach out to your account team to learn more and take action before October 20.
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