Ketch Data Permissioning for Media Companies: privacy-safe data activation is here

The digital media industry is in flux, to say the least. Regulatory pressure and changes, consumer expectations for data privacy, and the omnipresent threat of AI-driven content have created a whirlwind for media companies. Today, simply complying with regulations isn't enough—media companies need broader data control. And that's where Ketch comes in. 

Ketch is proud to introduce Ketch Data Permissioning for Media Companies, a solution designed specifically to meet the complex permissioning, privacy, and consent needs of modern media brands. With this industry-first product suite, Ketch is offering media companies the tools to confidently support privacy-safe data activation and monetization throughout their data ecosystems.

This isn’t just another cookie banner or consent management platform. Ketch is shifting the conversation from privacy compliance to data permissioning, and transforming expectations for how businesses should be able to leverage consent data to stay competitive and preserve revenue. From improving identity resolution to delivering better user experiences, it's time for "privacy management software" to get a makeover. Here’s how it works, and why it’s exactly what media companies need right now.

The current media landscape: an existential crisis

Today’s media companies are dealing with unprecedented challenges.

• FTC scruity on targeted advertising. The FTC has recently intensified its enforcement against the targeted advertising industry, focusing on protecting consumer privacy and preventing deceptive practices. For example, a recent development includes a ruling that hashing data does not make it anonymous (a very common practice and claim in the adtech industry), as it can still be linked back to individuals when combined with other data sets. The FTC is pushing for greater transparency and accountability, targeting companies that exploit sensitive data (e.g., health, location) without explicit consent or engage in deceptive data practices.
• New privacy regulations are emerging. The surge in state privacy regulations across the U.S. has created significant challenges for media companies. With each state adopting its own set of privacy rules, media companies now face the complexity of ensuring compliance across multiple jurisdictions, each with unique requirements for data collection, consent, and consumer rights. This patchwork of laws makes it difficult to implement a one-size-fits-all solution, forcing media companies to develop tailored compliance strategies that account for varying regulations. The result is increased operational burdens, legal risks, and a need for advanced privacy management solutions to avoid costly penalties.
• Threat of AI-driven content creation. AI-driven content creation poses an existential threat to media companies by challenging their traditional business models. With AI tools capable of generating vast amounts of content quickly and at low cost, media companies face increased competition from automated platforms that can produce articles, videos, and other media without human intervention. This diminishes the value of original journalism and creative work, potentially leading to a loss of audience engagement and advertising revenue. Furthermore, AI-generated content blurs the lines between authentic and synthetic media, undermining trust in media brands and raising concerns about the integrity and quality of information.
• Increasing complexity in identity and data architecture. Media companies are grappling with increasing uncertainty about the identity currency of the future, as evolving privacy regulations and the phasing out of third-party cookies make it unclear how user identities will be tracked and monetized. This uncertainty complicates long-term planning for personalized advertising and audience targeting. At the same time, the growing complexity of data stacks—managing diverse sources of first-party data, consent mechanisms, and cross-platform identity solutions—adds operational challenges. Media companies must invest in more sophisticated, integrated data architectures to navigate these shifting landscapes and remain competitive.

With more channels, devices, touchpoints, and regulations than ever before, the privacy challenge for media companies goes beyond simple compliance. Media companies need data control: a comprehensive understanding of permissions, privacy, and consent to inform data activation across the business.

They need permissioned data: data that’s collected, activated, and used in a compliant and privacy-safe way. But data complexity is growing, and the associated engineering costs are rising just as fast. More than ever before, navigating this landscape requires an engine capable of powering more than just compliance—it needs to drive revenue too.

Data permissioning: from privacy compliance to data activation

We developed Data Permissioning for Media Companies to solve these very challenges. While other consent management platforms focus narrowly on regulatory compliance, Ketch takes things further and broader, extending that knowledge of compliant and consented data across the entire data activation process:

• Transforming consent collection to capitalize on moments of value exchange, increasing first party data capture
• Enhancing the identity spine with consent and privacy preference data, increasing targeting precision
• Informing every internal and external data system with consented data permissions (especially key activation platforms like CDPs and DSPs)

Ketch helps media brands collect more permissions, gather more valuable data, and unlock deeper audience insights—all while maintaining full compliance with global privacy regulations. Ketch Data Permissioning enables responsible, consumer-centered data activation and monetization.

"With data complexity spiraling across channels, devices, and regulations, media brands need more than just compliance—they need control. Ketch Data Permissioning transforms consent into a dynamic, integrated lever that drives advertiser value and preserves revenue. This is how media leaders stay agile and competitive.”

- Tom Chavez, Co-founder and CEO, Ketch

4 key features of Ketch Data Permissioning for Media Companies

The Ketch Data Permissioning suite is packed with innovations designed to make media brands more agile, data-driven, and compliant. Here’s a breakdown of the features that set it apart:

1. Cross-device permission: a unified view of consumer identities
2. Journey designer: transforming consent into a seamless experience
3. Tracker Management: precision in data monetization
4. Flow-through orchestration: real-time consent enforcement across your ecosystem

Let's take a look at these in detail below.

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1. Cross-device permission: a unified view of consumer identities

Media companies often struggle with fragmented consumer identities. One visitor might interact with your brand through a magazine, a TV ad, or a website—and each of these touchpoints collects different data. Ketch Cross-Device Permission enables you to enhance your identity resolution by:

1. Connect visitors' consent choices across devices, channels, and platforms. Regardless of how a person accesses your digital properties, with Ketch you can connect their digital identifiers together for a single understanding of their preferences. For example, if a person opts-out of data sharing on one-device, Ketch will enable you to respect this choice when they access your website on another device, next time. This capability, what we call cross-device permission, is absolutely essential to comply with modern privacy regulations. We saw a recent, specific example of this in the California Attorney General’s investigative sweep announcement targeting streaming services. As U.S. California State Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “Consumers should also be able to have this choice honored across different devices if they are logged into their account when they send their opt-out request.”
2. Align visitor consent preferences with your identity spine. Having a precise understanding of your visitors and subscribers is crucial to serving the best user experience. With Ketch, connect privacy and consent choices into your persistent, cross-channel view of each user identity, creating an even more robust understanding of each person's choices, and improving your ability to deliver idea experiences for each person. With spine alignment, you can confidently activate your data, knowing it’s backed by clear, enforceable permissions.

This robust identity resolution is made possible by the Ketch identity synchronization architecture. Our founders’ successful track record of building data management and adtech platforms has cultivated a deep understanding of the complexity of user identities and tracking, purpose-built into the foundation of the Ketch Data Permissioning Platform: 

• We begin by gathering the myriad of first-party and third-party identifiers generated by a consumer’s interactions across devices and platforms. This is the foundation for understanding and respecting their privacy preferences.
• Through advanced algorithms, Ketch identifies and matches different data points, creating a unified view of the consumer. This ensures that a privacy choice made in one context is respected in all others.
• With a multitude of identifiers and potential conflicts, Ketch expertly navigates the data, ensuring that the consumer's privacy choices are consistently applied, no matter where or how they engage.

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2. Journey designer: transforming consent into a seamless experience

The days of static cookie banners that disrupt the user experience are over. With the Ketch Journey Designer, media companies can embed consent seamlessly into the user journey. No gates, no friction, and no annoying pop-ups that scare away visitors. This is about value exchange—asking for consent at the right time, in the right way, and activating it to drive revenue.

In today’s digital landscape, first-party data is the foundation for meaningful consumer engagement. Ketch Journey Designer focuses on identifying key moments of value exchange between brands and consumers, where consent requests are naturally aligned with consumer interest. This approach ensures that consumers don't feel pressured into sharing their data but instead see the tangible benefits of doing so, fostering a stronger and more transparent relationship with the brand.

Ketch Journey Designer is a suite of tools designed to help businesses:

• Increase first-party data capture
• Clearly communicate the value exchange between data and services
• Boost opt-in rates or re-engage opted out consumers, even in stringent jurisdictions

Ketch achieves these results through cutting-edge features designed to make consent requests more timely and relevant.

The Journey Designer allows you to create dynamic, context-aware consent experiences that flow with the user’s interaction with your site. Whether it’s asking for consent after a user has consumed content or offering them choices at the right moments, Journey Designer ensures a smooth experience that increases data capture and optimizes consent rates. This isn’t just compliance—it’s smart, audience-first design.

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3. Tracker Management: precision in data monetization

For media companies, the ability to accurately manage cookies and trackers is crucial—not just for compliance, but for monetization. Ketch’s Tracker Management system goes beyond basic cookie scanning. It accurately classifies cookies and tags across your digital properties, ensuring that data is collected and categorized properly.

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This feature directly supports reporting and activation for both internal teams and external partners. With Ketch’s tracker management, media brands can ensure that the data they collect respects user preferences while still fueling their monetization strategies.

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4. Flow-through orchestration: real-time consent enforcement across your ecosystem

Managing consent is one thing; making sure it’s respected across your entire ecosystem is another. Flow-Through Orchestration ensures that consent signals are automatically passed through to every relevant system—whether internal or external.

Modern privacy regulations, like CCPA/CPRA in California, require you to enforce opt-outs and Do Not Sell requests across your business systems and partners (also called “flowdowns”). This means you need to pass consumer consent signals from intake on your digital properties (from cookie banners, to embedded choices with Ketch Journey Designer) to your downstream systems. To accomplish this at scale, you need privacy software that includes integrations with the systems and applications where you store personal data.

With Ketch Flow-Through Orchestration (also referred to as consent orchestration), you can pass consumer privacy choices to your downstream systems and apps, to ensure knowledge of permissioned data across your data ecosystem. The Ketch Integration Library includes hundreds of pre-built API connectors that support integration for DSR and consent use cases. Every integration can be configured by non-technical stakeholders – clicks, not code – with zero developer effort from your team. For custom use cases, Ketch Developer Tools includes open access to webhooks, APIs, and integrations.

With pre-built integrations into DSPs and CDPs, Ketch helps you avoid costly media wastage by ensuring that you only target users who have given permission. What’s more, Ketch’s orchestration system allows you to tailor how consent flows depending on specific site distinctions, loyalty programs, or brand preferences, giving you full control over how data is shared and activated.

Clicks-not-code deployment features 

As data complexity increases, so do engineering costs. Ketch Data Permissioning for Media Companies is purpose-built with programmatic, clicks-not-code capabilities to minimize time spent in technical deployment and coding, and maximize time spent on data strategy and activation. These essential time-saving, revenue-preserving capabilities include: 

• Easy regulation scale and deployment. Ketch includes configurable policy templates for every single major privacy law (clicks, not code–no developer help required) so you can customize for your business and roll out as needed. Whenever a new law is passed, our team provides a new policy template. With each new policy deployment, your non-technical stakeholders can customize and deploy new consumer-facing privacy experiences–banners, modals, and preference centers–to match. Banners are automatically location-aware, serving the right experience to the right consumer, based on their jurisdiction and rights.‍
• Engineering-friendly APIs, hooks, and integrations. The Ketch platform includes open webhooks and developer tools if you do have developer/engineering resources that want to get hands-on. From custom, homegrown applications to unique use cases for consent data activation, we support your open usage of the Ketch platform to fit your brand needs. ‍
• Automated migration from legacy tools. Already using a legacy tool like OneTrust? Ketch provides seamless migration so you can upgrade without disruption. With Ketch, you'll gain not only foundational, intuitive capabilities for consent management and tracker/tag scanning, but the enhanced, sophisticated capabilities for informing data activation across the business with permissioned data.

The future of media is permissioned

Jon Suarez-Davis, Ketch Head of Industry Strategy, sums it up best: “Mastering omnichannel identity and personalized experiences isn’t just a competitive edge—it’s a necessity. Ketch empowers media companies to connect consumer identities across channels, delivering precise, permissioned experiences that meet consumer expectations and regulatory demands.”

For media brands that are ready to move beyond compliance and into the future of data-driven media, Ketch Data Permissioning offers a solution that’s as forward-thinking as it is tablestakes for staying competitive in today's landscape.

Learn more

Don’t let the complexity of today’s media landscape hold you back. Learn more about how Ketch Data Permissioning can help your brand take control of privacy and permissioning, all while driving audience engagement and revenue. Schedule a walkthrough with our experts now.

With Ketch Data Permissioning, media brands can finally turn privacy complexity into a competitive advantage. Welcome to the future of media.