Masters of Privacy

It is time for a seasonal update at the intersection of Marketing, Data, Privacy and Technology. We will stick to our usual five blocks: ePrivacy & regulatory updates; MarTech & AdTech; AI, Competition and Digital Markets; PETs, Zero-Party Data and Customer Centricity; Future of Media.
This season’s update includes:
* EU, UK, and California fines (Free, Reddit, Disney, PlayOn)
* Progress on the Digital Omnibus
* Important CJEU cases (WhatsApp vs. EDPB)
* AI capabilities spreading fast through MarTech and AdTech
* OpenClaw, Moltbook, Manus, WebMCP
* Fresh DSA and DMA enforcement in the EU (Google, TikTok)
All references and links can be found in a separate blog post available to paid Masters of Privacy subscribers on our website’s Newsroom section (Newsroom Notes: Winter 2026).
Our usual disclaimer: the voice that joins Sergio today is a text-to-speech output generated with Eleven Labs.


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John Harman (CIPP-US, CIPP-E, CIPM, FIP) is senior privacy counsel at a major global entertainment company (NBCUniversal), where he advises on emerging privacy challenges at the intersection of AI, biometric data, film marketing and consumer-facing technologies. With a background spanning both legal analysis, incident response, and cross-functional collaboration with product and engineering teams, John helps organizations navigate complex regulatory frameworks including BIPA, the amended COPPA Rule, U.S. privacy laws, and the EU AI Act’s biometric prohibitions. John is known for translating regulatory complexity into actionable guidance, helping teams audit API architectures for biometric data creation, assess AI-driven inference risks, and build privacy-by-design practices that align business objectives with evolving global standards. He emphasizes early engagement with product teams and operational controls that satisfy both enforcement authorities and product goals, positioning privacy as a business enabler rather than a compliance checkpoint.
With John we will start discussing recent news like the networks of Ring cameras working together across neighborhoods and the new features of Meta glasses, to then go into practical ways to deal with innovation in AI, AI governance frameworks, and more.
References:
* John Harman on LinkedIn
* Doorbell cams, surveillance tech face growing backlash (Axios)
* The Legal Case Against Ring’s Face Recognition Feature (EFF)
* Can Federal Law Enforcement Access Your Ring Doorbell Videos (Consumer Reports)
* Meta will ruin its smart glasses by being Meta (The Verge)
* Illinois Legislature Passes Major BIPA Amendment (Paul Hastings, May 2024)
* Introducing AI Sentinel for Masters of Privacy subscribers


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mastersofprivacy.com/subscribe

How does Google Consent Mode affect ePrivacy compliance, opt-in signals, traffic sampling, marketing performance, and CIPA claims? What are the most common technical mistakes in the configuration of Tag Managers, tracking rules, and consent banners? Where is “do not train” (LLMs) going? Does agentic traffic ruin analytics or the premises of consent?
We have gone through all of this with a true Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and website auditing expert.
Phil Pearce is founder of MeasureMinds and creator of ConsentModeMonitor. He started in paid search for CreditCards.com managing a multi-million dollar PPC account, before shifting to Privacy & Analytics about 8 years ago, when he did a series of talks about Black Hat Analytics. More recently, he has been helping brands with technical defence against CIPA & ePrivacy/PECR and GDPR claims. Prior to building his business, Phil worked for ConversionWorks, Jellyfish & Sitemakers as a Google Analytics and Search Specialist. He is a top authority in Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager and is the author of the GTM developer guide as well as host of the GA4ward, GTM4ward and Privacy4Marketers conferences.
References:
* Phil Pearce on LinkedIn
* Consent Mode Monitor (Masters of Privacy Toolbox), free website scans for three months
* Compliance Briefs (Masters of Privacy Toolbox), $500 discount for our listeners
* Lineberry v. AddShopper, Inc. (3:23-cv-01996), May 29, 2025
* MCP Manager by Usercentrics
* Introducing DPO Central: AI-powered privacy program management
* Sealmetrics: cookieless, consentless analytics


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mastersofprivacy.com/subscribe

Taylor Bloom is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP with significant experience operating at the intersection of law, technology and business, with a keen focus on international data protection, data privacy and governance. A certified privacy professional (CIPP/E, CIPP/US and CIPM) and the former in-house counsel at an advertising technology company, Taylor’s diverse strengths include coordinating and leading the implementation of global privacy and data security policies and programs; advising on compliance issues, negotiating agreements with vendors and business partners; and maintaining a deep knowledge of the advertising technology ecosystem and related privacy issues, including those surrounding geolocation and cross-device tracking interest based advertising practices. Taylor brings this experience to advising clients on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) and the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA).
References:
* Taylor Bloom at Baker & Hostetler LLP
* Taylor Bloom on LinkedIn
* California Won’t Let It Go: Attorney General Bonta Announces $2.75 Million Settlement with Disney, Largest CCPA Settlement in California History (February 2026)
* Attorney General Bonta Announces Largest CCPA Settlement to Date, Secures $1.55 Million from Healthline.com (July 2025)
* Seneca: MarTech & AdTech Privacy Case Law Research (TODO.LAW)


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mastersofprivacy.com/subscribe

The business purposes of digital data collection are not so obvious to all, and things will get even more complicated in an internet dominated by AI agents. We will today revisit the history of Digital Analytics and its evolution from Marketing-centric Analytics to Product Analytics and, eventually, Customer Experience Management (CXM). From there we will address the origins and current state of the composable MarTech stack and the activation, personalization, or demand generation possibilities it unlocks, with a new generation of Customer Data Platforms and Data Warehouses at its core.
We do this with the best possible guest. Adam Greco is one of the leaders of the data industry. As one of Omniture’s earliest customers and employees and a data consultant, he has helped thousands of organizations improve their digital properties through data. Adam has blogged extensively about data and authored the preeminent book on Adobe Analytics. He has held strategic roles at Salesforce, Amplitude, and several other leading organizations, having also served as a board member of several data technology providers and winning several awards from the Digital Analytics Association. Adam is a product evangelist at Hightouch, where he helps leading organizations strategize around using data to accelerate growth.
References:
* Adam Greco at Hightouch
* Adam Greco on LinkedIn
* Tejas Manohar: Data activation and composable CDPs in a privacy-first world (Masters of Privacy, January 2024)
* What is Customer Experience Management? (Harvard Business Review, April 2025)
* A deeper look at AI crawlers: breaking down traffic by purpose and industry (Cloudflare, August 2025)
* Learning more about Digital Analytics: Marketing Analytics Summit (Santa Barbara, April 2026).


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mastersofprivacy.com/subscribe