Be clear about what you collect: privacy habits for marketers

Start by listing what you actually collect

You cannot explain what you do not know. Walk through your website, your forms and your marketing tools, and write down every place where information about a person is gathered.

• Contact forms, booking forms and newsletter sign-ups.
• Analytics tools that count and describe visits.
• Ad pixels and other tags from advertising platforms.
• Chat boxes, embedded videos and social buttons, which can set their own cookies.
• AI writing tools. Customer details typed into them may be processed by the provider, so avoid pasting personal data unless you must.

Cookies in plain words

A cookie is a small file that a website stores in the visitor's browser. Some cookies are needed for the site to work, such as one that remembers a shopping basket. Others measure visits or support advertising.

The rules for the second kind often differ from country to country, and from the rules for the first kind. Find out which rules apply to you before you decide whether you need a banner. Your website platform may have a built-in consent tool.

A privacy notice people can actually read

A privacy notice is a page that tells visitors how you handle their information. Write it in short sentences, link it in the footer and place a link next to every form.

• What you collect, in plain words.
• Why you collect it.
• Which kinds of tools and providers see it, such as your analytics tool or email service.
• How long you keep it.
• How a person can ask for a copy, a correction or a deletion.
• Who to contact.

Consent wording on forms

• Say what will happen. For example: We will use your email to answer your question.
• Use a separate tick box for newsletters or offers, and leave it unticked at the start.
• Do not bundle two different permissions into one tick box.
• Do not add people to a mailing list only because they sent an enquiry.
• Record where and when each person agreed: which form, which page, and what the wording said at the time.

Keep your lists tidy

Ask only for what you will use. Imagine a dentist whose form asks for a date of birth that nobody ever looks at. That is extra data to protect, with no benefit.

Once a quarter, remove duplicates and test entries, check who can open the list, and delete records you no longer need. Avoid collecting sensitive details in a free-text box unless you truly need them.

When someone asks you to delete their data

• Decide in advance who handles these requests.
• Confirm that the person asking is really who they say they are.
• Search every place their details might sit: your CRM, email tool, spreadsheets and any audience lists you uploaded to ad platforms.
• Delete or correct the records, then reply to confirm.
• Keep a short note of what you did and when.

Where AI Marketing Master fits

The CRM keeps the contact history of each person in one place, in its Customer 360 view, and does not track device or location. That makes it easier to find everything when someone asks about their data. If you share lead data with Meta through the Conversions API, that sharing is opt-in and the data is hashed.