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Several Boltive team members recently returned from Washington DC, where we rubbed elbows with 4,000 of the best and brightest in the privacy world at the IAPP’s annual Global Privacy Summit (GPS).
GPS is always a great event for Boltive; a place to connect with friends and colleagues, meet new people and learn from peers and luminaries who fly in from across the globe.
Being on-site gave us a firsthand view of how the industry continues to evolve—technologically, operationally and strategically. And while the conversations were diverse, a few major trends really stood out.
One standout insight from the summit was the growing collaboration between privacy and security disciplines. Privacy and security teams are increasingly working together to satisfy legal requirements and achieve corporate compliance goals, educating each other about the differences in their approaches and finding ways to start speaking the same language. This journey yields significant benefits: reduction of risk, increased efficiency (both in time and budget) and prevention of unforced errors that can be costly in the event of a breach or lawsuit.
Within the next three to five years, this partnership is expected to become the norm, with information security teams owning the technical controls and privacy teams acting as product owners. Privacy professionals will be defining requirements as laws evolve, collaborating closely on tradeoffs and advocating for stakeholders, including consumers. At Boltive, we believe our integrated approach—bridging privacy and security—positions us well to help organizations thrive in this rapidly emerging future.
Another revealing moment at this year’s summit came during a session focused on ad tech. Overall it was an informative session, but when an attendee raised the topic of malware in digital advertising, the panel’s lack of awareness was striking. Despite the well-documented risks, ad security remains a blind spot for many privacy practitioners.
Regulatory enforcement and litigation around targeted advertising is not an "if," but a "when." Companies using any kind of ad tech on their sites need to be diligent: verifying that ad tech behaves as expected when consumers opt out of data collection and monitoring for unexpected third-party vendors who may piggyback onto pages or campaigns. Importantly, these checks cannot be a one-and-done effort—ad tech is a living, breathing ecosystem that requires ongoing vigilance.
Organizations that fail to monitor vendor behavior regularly may be caught off guard by regulatory investigations or litigation. Luckily, Boltive’s deep expertise in ad tech monitoring and compliance can help you stay ahead of these risks, providing proactive defense in an increasingly complex environment.
Speaking of regulators, this year’s summit made very clear they are starting to get very serious about cracking down on the use of manipulative patterns—also known as dark patterns or deceptive design. While much of the discussion has centered on comprehensive privacy laws, the FTC and individual states are also taking action under broader consumer protection laws against unfair and deceptive practices.
So what does this mean? For one thing, designs that nudge users toward accepting all data collection, such as a big, bright "Accept All" button next to a tiny "More Options" link, are increasingly viewed as non-compliant. Confusing legalese in privacy policies, or tactics that nag users into taking unwanted actions, are also under fire. Bottom line, companies need to ensure that their consent mechanisms and user experiences are genuinely fair, clear and non-coercive—or risk real regulatory scrutiny.
Clearly, the privacy landscape continues to evolve on multiple fronts. The convergence of privacy and security demands new approaches to compliance. Gaps in ad tech security represent both a challenge and an opportunity. And the crackdown on manipulative patterns signals a shift toward more user-centric design and transparency.
Organizations that can navigate these changes thoughtfully and proactively will be the ones to thrive. Boltive stands uniquely ready to lead in this environment—bridging privacy and security, defending against ad threats and helping companies build compliant, trustworthy digital experiences.
Ready to see how our platform can help you protect your organization and stay ahead of what’s next.
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