Consumers demand more control over their data, and streaming platforms are listening. Whale TV’s Chris Hock and OneTrust’s Ojas Rege discuss how consent management is shaping the future of personalization, privacy, and trust in CTV.
Often viewed solely as a regulatory hurdle, data privacy is evolving into a competitive advantage. As consumers become more privacy-conscious, streaming platforms must find the right balance between personalization and transparency. The days of passive data collection are over.
Instead, companies that actively earn consumer trust by providing clear choices and control over their data will thrive.
Enter Whale TV and OneTrust, two companies working together to set a new standard for privacy in CTV. Whale TV’s Vice President of Monetization, Chris Hock, and OneTrust’s Senior Vice President & General Manager of Privacy and Data Governance, Ojas Rege, discuss the evolving role of consent management, the challenges of balancing data-driven advertising with consumer trust, and why transparency is the foundation of a sustainable digital future.
Photography MertenFoto.nl – Merten Snijders
Emily Dalamangas: Why are consumers increasingly demanding more transparency and control over their data?
Chris Hock: Consumers are more aware of their privacy rights and needs than ever. In this digital day and age, every device or app requires users to create a login and store customer data to provide a personalized experience. A
fter GDPR was introduced in Europe, many companies started applying a global ‘best practice’ approach to data privacy, choosing the highest standard as the default. As a CTV platform, we must earn consumer trust by providing transparency and control over their data.
ED: How has digital consent evolved to create a better, more user-friendly consumer experience?
Ojas Rege: Consent is becoming a cornerstone of the digital customer experience. When privacy regulations were enacted several years ago, consent was considered a compliance requirement to avoid penalties. Now, marketers have realized that first-party data will be the fuel that powers their personalization strategies and that data cannot be used without appropriate consumer consent.
As a result, they are developing tailored preference centers for different markets and integrating consent with their modern MarTech stack. They understand that a thoughtfully designed, user-friendly consent and preference strategy is more than just a legal necessity; it’s an opportunity to foster authentic customer relationships and drive long-term business growth through better personalization and more targeted audience creation.
When organizations invest in preference centers, they give their customers more granular control over using personal data and how and when the brand engages with them. This shift toward preference-based, privacy-first engagement enhances customer trust and improves operational efficiency. Unified consent profiles ensure that data is consistent across channels, reducing the risk of errors and enabling more effective marketing campaigns.
By giving customers greater control over their data, companies not only ensure compliance with legal requirements but also build trust by demonstrating that they are responsible stewards of the customer’s data.
How Can a Consent Management Platform Help Balance Privacy With Personalization?
ED: Organizations face balancing data responsibilities with delivering personalized experiences and relevant advertising. How can a consent management platform help achieve this balance?
OR: The omni-channel world requires customized content across channels and devices. Delivering compelling personalization and relevant advertising to the right person at the right time requires a consistent and disciplined approach to consent.
A consent management platform (CMP) provides a structured system for collecting and managing user consent. When a user visits a digital property, the CMP presents the appropriate opt-in or opt-out experience, allowing them to choose which types of data they’re willing to share and for what purposes. These choices are then recorded, stored, and enforced as required by regulations like the GDPR and CCPA.
This ensures personal data is only used for the right purposes, and if a user changes their mind, they can easily withdraw consent so their data isn’t used for that purpose again. From the consumer’s perspective, this results in a customizable experience where product recommendations, content, and ads align with their interests while still respecting their privacy choices.
How Does OneTrust’s Platform Strengthen Whale TV’s Relationship With Its Customers?
ED: How does OneTrust’s consent management platform strengthen Whale TV’s customer relationship by building trust?
CH: With OneTrust, we can offer consumers across all touchpoints a secure and familiar way of managing the personal data that we store. By integrating OneTrust in our Whale TV operating system and in our owned and operated streaming service, Whale TV+, we can simplify consent for consumers: They only have to provide their preferences once.
ED: What are the key benefits for organizations implementing a consent management platform?
OR: Marketers can safeguard consumers’ data and build trust with a consent management platform. Marketers can maximize opt-ins and engagement by creating consented first-party datasets and clearly communicating value to the consumer. They can streamline compliance with privacy regulations worldwide while reducing workload through automation.
When customers are provided clear options regarding data usage, an organization’s commitment to privacy shines through. This transparency strengthens customer relationships and improves retention rates. Consented first-party datasets provide valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences, which allow marketers to tailor their communication strategies to drive engagement and conversion.
Why Did Whale TV Choose Onetrust?
ED: Whale TV chose OneTrust as its consent management partner. What advice would you give organizations seeking the proper privacy and consent platform?
CH: Whale TV is a global company, and our TV operating system is used in households in over 200 countries worldwide. Therefore, it was important for us to find a consent management partner who understood and kept up with the data privacy requirements and laws for multiple regions around the world.
Couple that with the flexible APIs that make integrating OneTrust into our TV operating system straightforward. OneTrust provided the best solution for us at this moment.
What Trends Are Shaping the Future of Data Transparency?
ED: What more significant industry trends are shaping the future of transparency in data collection and consent management?
OR: Signal loss: Privacy regulations’ increasing prevalence and importance have made it harder to measure campaigns and target ads using third-party data. This drives marketers to build consented first-party datasets that they can use more responsibly and with greater transparency to meet their marketing goals.
Data-hungry AI models: Most MarTech systems will leverage AI to target consumers and personalize experiences. However, using personal data to train AI models is risky because those models can’t “unlearn” if consumers remove their consent. As a result, all organizations must have an “AI-ready” data strategy with the appropriate permission, anonymization, and risk assessment built into systems and processes from day one.
Privacy as a Differentiator, Not Just a Requirement
As the digital landscape evolves, data privacy and consent management will only grow in importance. Whale TV and OneTrust’s partnership highlights transparency as not just about compliance—it’s about fostering trust, strengthening customer relationships, and creating better user experiences.
The key takeaway for companies looking to navigate this shifting landscape is clear: a well-executed privacy strategy isn’t just about avoiding regulatory fines—it’s a strategic differentiator. Organizations can future-proof their data strategies by prioritizing consumer choice and control while delivering personalized experiences that respect privacy.