The intersection of Ethics, GDPR, and Digital Marketing

Lots of digital marketing issues have unfolded right in our eyes for the last five years. A report by Fox News (2018) acknowledges the case of Facebook versus Cambridge Analytica as the most recent digital marketing traction that had far-reaching effects to a point where polices were put in place to avoid future occurrences. Most people think these extreme cases of digital marketing are prevalent in large world's economic regions such as America and the United Kingdom. But I want you to note that the matter of ethics is present in many nations. For example, in our country, a report published by Statista (2020) justifies that the primary users of digital marketing platforms in Norway are the Telcom industry, media, travel, retail, food, and entertainment, among others. What is surprising is the fact that these industries have had over thousands of markting malpractice cases over the last two years.  I am sure I mentioned your sector, and you can attest to us that it has not been easy complying with new government regulations as well as your internal policies concerning marking.

The critical concern in many digital marketing endeavors has been the intersect of ethics and marketing. Before indulging in that, let us look at ethics on more straightforward terms. Fox News (2018), states that “ethical conduct matters more than policies." As such, ethics is what we do even when we have no one to monitor us. In a business context, ethics can be simplified to mean principles and morals that apply all aspects of our conduct when interacting professionally. Having said that, what is the essence of marketing ethics. Bhasin (2018) investigated the matter of marking ethics and stated that it instills customer loyalty; there is a common saying that "treat customers well today, tomorrow they will bring their friends too." Who would not want that?

Ladies and gentlemen, this discussion reminded me of the GDPR (General Data Policy Regulation). Patel (2018) looked at the main reason for the enactment of GDPR and cited that it was meant to offer a "uniform and harmonized approach towards privacy in the European Union." Well, know that Norway is a member of the European Union, meaning that GDPR is core to our digital marketing operations. GDPR affects marketing since it forces companies to reconsider how they operate, mainly regarding personal information. GDPR holds that before...