Stuart Colman is Managing Director, EMEA at Maxifier.

What an incredible decade it’s been for Big Data. Back in 2003, Tacoda (remember them?) was still pre-AOL, AudienceScience (then RevenueScience) had just launched in the UK with the Financial Times, and companies such as eXelate, AppNexus and MediaMath were years from being created, let alone becoming household names. We still did ’behavioural’ targeting, and RTB still stood for ‘raid the bar’.

Roll forward 10 years and we now have hundreds of companies whose entire existence is based on data-driven advertising. We have Goliaths such as Google and Adobe spending billions of dollars building end-to-end data-driven advertising stacks and (FYI) we have more acronyms describing our industry than you could shake a stick at (WTF? LOL). We know more about consumer behaviour, intent and interest than ever before and we have effective and efficient ways of actioning that insight to deliver bigger and better digital advertising campaigns. Isambard Kingdom Brunel himself would have been proud at the speed of our innovation and change.

And the next 10 years promise to be even bigger and even better. Doomsayers aside, the future still looks rosy for data-driven ad tech. With the rise of Google Glass, wearable tech, mobile wallets, everything stored in the cloud and the ‘always on’ lifestyle, driven by the ‘Internet of Things’ (cars, kids, fridges, shopping, utility and household supplies, pets, watches, TV’s – even our day-to-day health), we’ll know more about, and be able to interact and engage with, people at levels the makers of the Matrix and Minority Report couldn’t have even dreamt of.

The ad tech future genuinely looks amazing.

And then there’s privacy…

The view here is, unless we start to address the challenge of privacy in the ‘amazing new future’ today, then the house of cards that is the current data-driven advertising ecosystem will come crashing down faster than you can say “programmatic trading”.

So, are things really that bad? In one crucial word, yes; and we only have ourselves to blame. Our heads are still in the sand. As the old adage goes, with great power comes great responsibility; something as an industry I’m not sure we have yet to grasp. I appreciate the industry has worked hard to ensure it is compliant with current laws (I was involved myself heavily in the industry response to the revised e-privacy directive in Europe) and continues to do good things in support of this response. However, we have failed spectacularly to plan for the future and actually speak to the public – the very people ultimately in control of privacy – to truly understand what they want, and how they want it, in the next 10 years. My guess is we’re still paranoid that what they ask might be out of kilter with what we want to do as an industry.

The ‘Internet of Things’ affords us huge data-driven marketing opportunities, but it also shifts the balance of privacy control firmly to the consumer. When EVERYTHING is connected – when every aspect of a consumer’s life is mapped, monitored, predicted and interacted with – opt-out, implied consent, single point agreements hidden in the depths of a 30-page privacy policy just isn’t good enough. It’s too one-dimensional, too one-size-fits-all, too, “don’t worry, we won’t be evil”. Our lives in the ‘always on’ world will be anything but one-dimensional, and privacy controls and communication are going to have to change radically and quickly to reflect this: consumers simply won’t accept anything less.

So, what will the future of consumer consent look like? If I truly knew, I wouldn’t be telling you – I’d be off building it and making my millions. However, here are a few thoughts to be getting on with:

-- We have to have a continuous conversation (day-by-day, hour-by-hour) with consumers as, when connected 24/7, their willingness for you to collect or use their data can change from one situation to another.

-- Consent has to be flexible and multi-dimensional. Black or white opt-in/out just won’t cut it. Consumers will want to know what you are doing, when you are doing it and why. They’ll also want to know this in plain English, and expect you to stick to what you say you’ll do.

-- We’ll need technology that will allow consumers to manage and monitor those who collect and use their data, maybe even allowing consumers to set rules and thresholds that we, as data collectors, have to abide by – it’s the consumers who will be in charge, not us.

-- Consumers of the future will have a very real understanding of the value of their data, so get prepared to share the benefits with them of having and using their information.

-- Data collection, analysis and understanding will have to improve by leaps and bounds if we’re going to make the most of the vast quantity and diversity of the data to which we’ll have access. As acceptance of data-based targeting increases, through greater control and reciprocal value exchange, consumers will expect to see the significant benefits the use of their data brings to the accuracy and relevancy of their digital experiences. We talk about Big Data today – I’d suggest we’re not even close to being big enough yet.

The message to me is clear – we have focused far too much on the here and now when it comes to consumer privacy and control. We’ve done a good job answering the issues put in front of us, but we’ve been scared to look beyond the here and now and plan for a future 10 years out.

Those who realise this, and start to plan for a future where opportunities are endless, but where the consumer is in control, stand to reap the huge benefits a data-driven digital future provide. Time to take our heads out of the sand.