Direct personalisation – Creepy or the future of marketing?

Have you seen an ad recently that just gets you? Maybe it predicts where you want to eat? Or supports your favourite footy team? Perhaps your digital map is promoting a nearby store you follow on Instagram?

The suspicious among us might laugh that your phone is listening to you. With AI, this is getting closer to the truth.

As AI continues to transform digital marketing, the balance between personalisation and privacy has never been more critical. With major platforms like deploying AI to tailor ads with unprecedented precision, marketers face a defining challenge: how to embrace innovation without eroding consumer trust.

AI is moving beyond simple product recommendations. In the United States, their major ticketing platform’s latest personalised advertising feature demonstrates how machine learning can tailor a single ad to reflect the specific team a user supports and dynamically adapt creative assets in real time.

Meanwhile, a social media juggernaut has announced plans to use conversational data between users and AI to inform ad content and ad personalisation across their two linked platforms from December 2025. So, posts, reels, and ads will be tailored to users based on their conversations with Generative AI features.

The shift toward deeper personalisation isn’t confined to social media platforms. A search engine titan is now using data from its digital wallet to leverage users’ purchase history and saved passes – like loyalty cards and boarding passes – to inform offers and app suggestions aligned with users’ actual spending habits.

A device-driven tech giant will also use user data to introduce advertisements on their mapping platform in 2026, whereby businesses can pay for visibility when users search for nearby locations. These paid results will appear alongside organic search results in the Maps interface.

Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has described this next phase as one where advertisers will only need to set a goal and a budget, while AI systems autonomously handle the rest. From generating customised visuals to identifying ideal audiences, the process is becoming almost entirely automated.

This evolution signals a fundamental shift: products are no longer at the heart of the AI revolution. Instead, AI-powered personalisation is becoming the central value driver in advertising strategies.

While this move could increase ad relevance and engagement, it also raises critical questions about data ethics and transparency. Even with safeguards for sensitive topics, the practice of mining AI chat data risks undermining user trust, particularly at a time when global privacy obligations are tightening, and consumer awareness is at an all-time high.

So where does this leave marketers and advertisers?

As AI-driven advertising becomes more sophisticated, compliance with privacy obligations and user consent frameworks are not just a legal requirement – it’s a strategic imperative.

Marketers must proactively review and update their privacy disclosures in their collection statements, privacy policies and opt-out mechanisms. This aligns with growing expectations for clear, accessible data processes that demonstrate respect for user autonomy.

The last thing you want is a consumer frustrated with your brand for their persistent omnipresence.

Transparency, data minimisation, and express consent are no longer optional. These practices are the cornerstones of trust. The brands that demonstrate compliance with these privacy constructs effectively will stand out in an era of algorithmic opacity.

For responsible digital marketers, the path forward lies in ethical innovation. While AI enables unprecedented creativity and performance, the industry must ensure these advances do not come at the cost of privacy or user trust.

ADMA’s State of AI in Marketing Survey found that 47% of marketers are using AI tools for creating content for ads, emails, websites, or social media. So marketers must ensure they are aware of and comply with Australian legislation. This includes:

• Misleading or deceptive conduct (Sections 18 & 29):
  Ensure AI-generated content doesn’t make false, misleading, or deceptive claims — even unintentionally.
  → Example: If an AI tool exaggerates product benefits, your business is still liable.
• Disclosure and transparency:
  If AI is used to simulate human endorsements, influencers, or testimonials, this may need to be clearly disclosed.
• Comparative or factual claims:
  Any data or statistics used by AI in copy must be verifed for accuracy.
  
  

• Personal information use:
  If AI tools use customer data (e.g. for email segmentation, targeting, or personalisation), you must comply with the APPs, particularly:
  • APP 3: Only collect personal data that’s necessary.
  • APP 6: Only use personal information for the purpose it was collected for.
  • APP 11: Securely store and protect personal data.
• Consent:
  Be transparent and give clear notice before using personal information to train or prompt AI systems
• Cross-border data flow:
  If your AI tools process personal information overseas, you must ensure overseas recipients comply with Australian privacy obligations.
  
  

Spam Act 2003 (Cth)

• All AI-generated email or SMS campaigns must:
  • Have consent from recipients (opt-in).
  • Include accurate sender identification.
  • Include an easy unsubscribe mechanism.
• Even if AI generates the copy, your business remains responsible for compliance.
  
  

Social media platform policies

• Each major platform has its own advertising transparency and AI-content rules.
• Disclose synthetic or AI-generated media, especially if it could mislead viewers.
• Avoid deepfakes or manipulated content that could harm reputation or deceive readers.
• IntroduceAI-generated content labels for political or sensitive ads.

Intellectual Property & Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)

• AI-generated works may not qualify for copyright if there’s no human author — meaning competitors could reuse or adapt AI output.
• If AI models use copyrighted material in training, you may be exposed to secondary liability (depending on how the model was trained).
• Always review your AI vendor’s terms of service regarding IP ownership.
   

Advertising Standards Codes

• Applies to all Australian advertising, including digital and AI-generated.
• Requires:
  • Truthful representation of products and people.
  • No offensive, discriminatory, or exploitative content.
  • Clear disclosure of commercial intent (e.g., not disguising ads as organic posts).

Want to feel confident in your compliance obligations?
To build your skills and future-proof your brand, explore our regulatory course offering including online short courses and our in-depth Privacy and Compliance for Marketers program.