Data in Digital Advertising : Where goes the line between benefit and privacy?

Data has never been as plentiful as it is today in our age of information and never has it been such a powerful tool for marketers as with digital advertising, but at what cost? Where does the line between benefit and privacy go and how do we know when it’s being crossed? The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship of data as part of targeted advertising and the possible privacy issues that might arise from excessive data collection and use. This poses a fundamental question on the ethics of governments and corporations alike taking part in this data business and hopefully brings more light to the issues of data privacy. The research methods chosen were exploratory in nature and therefore both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. Individual interviews with three experts from the media house Dentsu Aegis Network Finland were conducted, along with a survey on data privacy. Secondary data was collected from various literature, articles and news. The study shows that most people are aware of their information being collected and used, but not exactly to what extent. This suggests that the overall public opinion and conversation on the issue of data privacy is still in its infancy and is yet to be addressed properly