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Ad agencies redefine creativity under DPDPA; witness 15% spike in compliance expenditure
With the final DPDP Act rules set to roll out soon, mainstream advertising and ad-tech agencies are overhauling data systems, consent frameworks, and targeting models to balance personalization with privacy.
DPDPA compliance is encouraging ad-tech and martech agencies to strike a balance between privacy and personalization. Those who get it right will earn not just clicks, but consumer confidence, say experts.(Representative Image: Erik Mclean via Unsplash)
As India’s long-awaited Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) inches closer to full enforcement, mainstream advertising and marketing technology firms are undergoing a sweeping reset. The final rules, expected to be notified soon, are not merely a legal compliance exercise - they represent a fundamental shift in how consumer data is collected, stored, and used across the marketing and ad-tech ecosystem.
For years, Indian advertising relied on precision-driven audience targeting built around user data, social identifiers, and behavioral signals. That model is now under regulatory pressure. Agencies, brand marketers, and data intermediaries are recalibrating their systems to comply with stringent requirements around consent.
Executives share a 10–15% increase in short-term operational and compliance costs, driven by technology upgrades, legal consultations, training, and data infrastructure changes. Yet, most agree the investment is worth it.
From Legal Obligation to Trust Imperative
“Ad-tech and marketing agencies are treating DPDPA and its draft rules as more than a legal checkbox - it’s a reset moment for how they will build trust with audiences who are increasingly cautious about data usage and security,” says Mini Gupta, Partner, Cybersecurity Consulting, EY India.
Gupta notes that agencies are taking a comprehensive view of the “data journey” -right from how data is collected and how notices are provided, to what constitutes valid consent, how data is shared with partners, and where it’s stored.
“The biggest shift we expect is around consent, transparency, and data governance,” she adds.
This shift is already manifesting in key operational changes. Advertising and martech firms are strengthening consent management systems to ensure that permissions are informed, specific, and easy to withdraw. They’re also putting in place mechanisms for data principals (users) to exercise their rights - including access, correction, and deletion - and establishing formal grievance channels.
Children’s data has emerged as a particularly sensitive area. The DPDPA explicitly prohibits processing minors’ personal data for targeted advertising, compelling agencies to rethink audience segmentation and campaign design. “The scrutiny on children’s data is intense - agencies are ensuring strict exclusion from all forms of targeting,” Gupta notes.
Creative Rethink and Additional Cost
The new compliance environment is forcing a creative rethink.
“Many agencies are re-evaluating their targeting strategies,” Gupta says. Privacy-friendly approaches like cohort-based targeting (grouping users by shared interests or behavior rather than individual identifiers) and contextual advertising (matching ads to page content) are gaining traction.
These models, long seen as less efficient than behavioral targeting, are now being reimagined through the lens of trust and long-term sustainability. With stricter limits on cookies, device IDs, and social identifiers, reliance on personal data is diminishing. In its place, anonymized segments and AI-driven context cues are forming the new foundation for ad targeting.
However, this transformation is not without cost.
Industry executives estimate a 10–15% increase in short-term operational and compliance costs, driven by technology upgrades, legal consultations, training, and data infrastructure changes. Yet, most agree the investment is worth it.
“Over the long term, these costs stabilize as compliance systems become integrated into day-to-day operations,” says a spokesperson from AdLift. “The benefits of avoiding fines, legal complications, and reputational damage far outweigh the initial burden.”
AdLift, which operates in multiple global markets, views the DPDPA as “an opportunity to build trust and safety into its products.” The firm has already implemented privacy and governance practices aligned with international frameworks like the GDPR and CCPA, and is adapting them for India’s context.
“The data residency step is a visible, concrete move toward compliance in India,” the spokesperson adds. “Final rules may impose more granular requirements - such as detailed consent architectures, audit logs, or cross-border data regimes - so agility and a privacy-by-design foundation are critical.”
Building Accountability Through Technology
For some players, compliance is less about policy and more about engineering. Vijender Yadav, CEO and Co-founder of Accops, says his firm’s philosophy is simple: “Compliance is about enforcing accountability through technology.”
Accops, which provides secure digital workspace solutions, has integrated a Data Subject Rights Workflow and Breach Notification Framework directly into its enterprise platforms.
“Our systems are designed to facilitate timely notification to both the regulator and the data principal in case of any incident. Every digital interaction is governed by Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) policies - ensuring that data protection principles are enforced technically, not just on paper,” Yadav explains.
Following the draft DPDPA rules, Accops introduced three key workflow enablers:
Data Minimisation Enforcement - Restricting access to sensitive data based on user context (who, when, where).
Consent Management Integration - Tracking and logging consent metadata with automated revocation mechanisms.
Centralised Data Security for Erasure - Using virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to prevent local data storage and enable systematic “Right to Erasure” compliance.
Yadav insists that compliance investments are not a cost burden but a strategic differentiator.
Culture, Contracts, and Consent
Across the industry, agencies are realising that compliance isn’t just about systems - it’s a cultural reset. Gupta of EY India points out that “efforts are being made to train teams, redesign workflows, and embed privacy-by-design into campaign planning.”
This cultural shift extends to contracts too. Agencies are tightening legal agreements with partners to clearly define whether each party acts as a data fiduciary (deciding how data is used) or a data processor (acting on instructions). The distinction, often blurred in multi-party advertising chains, is now central to liability and accountability.
Under the new regime, agencies must also maintain data retention schedules, storing personal data only as long as necessary. Robust Data Loss Prevention (DLP) technologies are being deployed to prevent unauthorized access, sharing, or leaks.
The cumulative effect is a more cautious, consent-centric industry. “Agencies are moving from ‘collect everything’ to ‘collect what’s needed and justify why,’” says Gupta.
Few companies embody this mindset better than VergeCloud, whose co-founder and COO, Amin Habibi, describes privacy as a daily promise, not a checkbox.
“At VergeCloud, we treat privacy like a promise we keep every day. That means plain, honest explanations of what we collect and why, keeping only what’s necessary, and defaulting to India for Indian data unless a customer asks otherwise,” Habibi says.
The company has implemented a “Data Request Center”, allowing individuals to request access, correction, or deletion of their data and track progress in real time. Contracts with partners have been updated to align privacy standards, and all employees undergo regular privacy training.
Despite a 10–12% rise in compliance expenditure this year - primarily due to new systems, partner re-contracting, and training - VergeCloud expects long-term savings.
The Human Factor: From Leaks to Lessons
Data protection also extends beyond customer data. Amit Relan, CEO and Co-founder of mFilterIt, highlights the often-overlooked risk of employee data.
“When employee data leaks, it doesn’t remain a minor privacy lapse — it becomes a chain of high-risk exposures,” he says. Aadhaar, PAN, and payroll records can fuel identity fraud, phishing, and impersonation. “The only way forward is to treat employee data as critical infrastructure - enforce minimisation, restrict access, and mandate continuous audits.”
Relan’s warning underscores a key lesson: data protection is holistic. Whether it’s consumer targeting or HR records, every data touchpoint must now be viewed through the privacy lens.
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