PGC panel talks privacy, first-party data and avoiding a “last minute scramble”

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“My first instinct is to build new sh*t. But you need to stop and learn,” said NumberEight CEO and co-founder Abhishek Sen, during a data and privacy panel at PGC London 2025.

“Start with getting consented data – what you get is a good baseline you can expand.”

Sen was joined on the panel by AdInMo CEO Kristan Rivers, GameBiz Consulting head of ad monetisation Božo Janković and Usercentrics director of product management Valerio Sudrio.

They discussed the changes to data privacy over recent years – particularly since the introduction of Apple’s ATT – and suggested measures developers and publishers can take to make the best of the situation.

In fact, Rivers expressed excitement at the idea of privacy: “The developer community views privacy as a hygiene factor, something you’ve got to do. I’ve always viewed privacy as a feature. Let’s embrace it.”

Regulation and first-party data

The panel discussed the impacts of Apple and Google’s evolving privacy measures and changing regulations around the world, such as the Digital Markets Act in the EU.

“Fines aren’t the right tool, honestly. They’re not what changes things,” said Rivers.

Sudrio, meanwhile, called privacy a “performance marketing topic” as opposed to a legal one.

“In France, regulators don’t know technology very well when it comes to mobile apps. Regulators don’t even know what an SDK is,” he said.

“But France is looking into privacy more now,” said Janković.

As more countries look into legislative changes, Rivers advised developers to begin “getting things in place” – collecting their own first-party data to take back control now, as opposed to reacting with a “last minute scramble” only when forced.

“First-party data, if you’re able to capture it, will help you identify the leaky buckets,” added Sen.

“A portion of users will opt out,” Sudrio said. “That’s inevitable.”

“If a player opts out, says ‘no’, but there’s a TCF string associated with that, we actually know that player gave some level of consent, and we can still find value in that. We can still do contextual targeting.”

Another year of PGC London is now wrapping up, but that means there’s plenty to discover from the fantastic conversations that have taken place over both insightful days – from leadership skills to narrative, to AI investment potential and UA’s renaissance.