How the Evolving Privacy Landscape Affects Digital Marketing: A Conversation with Tatia Jordan

Personal information is meant to be exactly that — personal, until someone willingly and knowingly chooses to share it. In recent years, concerns over data privacy have surged, leading to shifts in how personal identifiable information (PII) can be handled, stored, and used online.

For digital marketers and business owners, this evolution is more than just a legal headache — it’s a game changer. Digital marketing and technology strategies we leaned on (such as relying on third-party cookies for targeting) can’t be part of our efforts anymore. The digital privacy awakening is changing how businesses attract, maintain, and communicate with customers. So what’s a professional in digital marketing to do?

For one thing, it’s all about getting explicit consent before collecting that personal data. Now that consumers are more educated on the topic, transparency is essential. 87% of individuals are unwilling to do business with a company if they feel there are data security concerns. 

Because online marketing privacy issues affect consumers (and marketers) worldwide, governments across the globe have responded with stricter data protection laws to safeguard consumer information. The following are two of the most significant:

• The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): This imposes hefty fines for non-compliance. It addresses the collection and use of data from individuals in the EU and beyond. Since 2018, this law has expanded the definition of personal data and gives consumers rights to collection and erasure.
• The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):  Effective since Jan 2020, this grants California residents rights over their personal data, including the ability to know, delete, and opt out of the sale of their information, while imposing data transparency and security obligations on businesses.

Here’s the good news: 

Tatia Jordan, Professor of Practice The Wake Forest School of Professional Studies (SPS) embraces the ethical components of digital marketing. Both the SPS master’s degree program in digital marketing curriculum and the school’s mission focus on values-driven leadership. The drive is never simply to sell; it’s to engage.

We spoke with Professor of Practice Tatia Jordan, a Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP)® who teaches the Leadership, Ethics, and the Legal Landscape of Digital Marketing course. Tatia emphasizes two key focus points to keep in mind for anyone in the digital marketing space:

1. Be clear about data collection and use common sense when it comes to privacy ethics. 
2. Build trust and communicate directly with your clients.

Can You Explain the Importance of Digital Marketing Skills for Every Professional?

Tatia Jordan (TJ): Here’s one of the things we are seeing in the last five years: You are a digital marketer whether you admit it or not. How many times do you look at your mobile phone in a day? This is a survival skill. If we were in the Neolithic period, I would be teaching you how to hunt for food. This is the 2025 way you are going to have a job. You are a digital marketing professional. It doesn’t matter what industry my students come from. For example, if you’re in real estate, you have to understand digital marketing. To me, this is the most important field for anyone to know in today’s world. Digital, social, and mobile communication skills are vital. Marketing isn’t just business.

Marketing is communication. If I’m writing something on social media, and I want to amplify it for myself or for a client, marketing is getting that message to someone who needs to hear it. 

Why Does Data Privacy Matter to Both Consumers and Professionals?

TJ: At Wake Forest SPS, we are trying to bring it down to the daily level. What do we need to know about data privacy as a consumer and as a professional? This topic applies to everything they’re doing now, and it doesn’t require moving into an entirely new industry. 

We toe the line between learning about digital marketing and understanding how to stay informed about your ethical responsibility. Digital marketers have a responsibility to respect and protect, and that’s why it falls under the purview of this course. Data privacy is an ethical issue, and that’s why we study it as such.

These days, different countries have different privacy laws, and while the U.S. has fewer laws compared to some European countries, we have to understand the following: Where is your audience located, and where is your company operating? I teach my students themes that emphasize research — not just geographical. Who are your messages going to, and are you following the most recent regulations? Many of my students are entrepreneurs or small business owners, and they aren’t working with their own legal team. As a small business owner, you’re collecting data, and people are entrusting you with their information. We talk a lot about ethical accountability and actively guarding people’s privacy. We discuss how you do it and the best way to navigate that issue.

How is Wake Forest SPS’s Approach to a Master’s in Digital Marketing Unique?

TJ: We dedicate an entire course to raising awareness around these issues. Lots of times, you will maybe find a module within a course on data privacy and ethics, but we look at case studies of companies who have acted unethically and talk more philosophically at the beginning about business ethics. We then apply it more directly to digital marketing. 

We dive into these issues over eight weeks with real case studies, from influencers to corporations. Data privacy is paramount in all of the things we look at. When you’re talking about ethics and the global, mobile society we all live in, data privacy is front and center in that conversation. That’s why my approach is business ethics applied to digital marketing. 

How Have Concerns Over Data Privacy and Compliance Changed?

TJ: One of the things I found most interesting in discussions with my students is this: You are able to use AI to create something, but when you try to copyright it, the question arises around how much you substantially changed to make it your own. This concept matters because AI companies can take an artist’s work to train their AI model without permission and with no compensation to the artist. There is a reason why a lot of artists have valid legal concerns about how AI was trained. 

PII is another concern. I think sometimes people don’t realize the data and details they put into AI software is going back into training the machine. When we use these tools, we are signing away all these rights just to work within the platform. Yet, these forms change frequently, and you may get an update, but you aren’t revisiting terms and conditions. 

How Do You Think Digital Privacy Will Continue to Evolve, and What Are We Facing Next?

TJ: We are going to have increasing privacy issues. Data privacy and compliance have to be part of the conversation. This is a huge, collective challenge we all face now, and we need to work together to get on the same page. That’s really the approach I take in the course — this is everyone’s responsibility. I ask my students directly, “How do you see yourself contributing to the solution in the future?”

Are you ready to face the evolving digital landscape? Learn more about our online Master of Digital Marketing program. Request more information today.