Zero-party data for brands
Zero-party data is information people intentionally share with a brand, such as interests, groups they join, and saved preferences, with explicit consent.
Unlike observed or inferred data, zero-party data is explicit, consensual, and controlled by the person who shares it. People share it in exchange for clear value: better content, more relevant experiences, or meaningful participation.
On Genuin, zero-party data comes from what people choose to do inside your social experience. It replaces tracking with participation, inference with stated intent, and extraction with a value exchange. For where data and privacy fit among Genuin's rules, see Control: what it does and where to start.
What zero-party data includes
- Preferences and interests
- Intent signals
- Feedback and choices
- Profile information people provide voluntarily
- Engagement decisions people make inside your owned environment
How it compares with first-party and third-party data
| Data type | Source | Consent | Control | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zero-party | Directly from the user | Explicit and intentional | User-led | Topic interests selected, communities joined, preferences saved |
| First-party | Observed user behavior | Often implied | Brand-controlled | Page views, clicks, purchases |
| Third-party | External aggregators | Indirect or opaque | Limited | Purchased audience segments |
Zero-party data has the highest trust level of the three. People know what they share and why, which lowers your compliance risk and strengthens long-term engagement.
Zero-party signals on Genuin
Every signal below rests on permission and transparency.
Declared preferences and interests
- Topics people follow or select
- Communities and groups they choose to join
- Content categories they engage with intentionally
Engagement inside your social experience
- Content people spark (like), share, repost, or comment on
- Videos and posts they create and publish
- Searches they run inside your social experience
These are choice-driven actions, not passive tracking.
Voluntary profile inputs
- Profile details people provide
- Login or identity signals through single sign-on (SSO)
- Optional demographic or interest fields
To sign people in with the accounts they already have with you, see Set up single sign-on with your identity provider.
Permission-based access
People must explicitly approve sensitive access before an app can use it:
- Camera or microphone
- Photo gallery
- Location
- Contacts
- Speech recognition
This permission model keeps people in charge of what they share. For how the Genuin SDK asks for these permissions, see Request camera, microphone, and photo library permissions.
How you use zero-party data
Personalization without overreach
You personalize from what people say they care about, where they choose to participate, and how they engage within communities. You don't need cross-site identifiers or invasive profiling.
Learn more about using member interests to grow your social experience.
Contextual monetization
You monetize contexts, not individuals:
- Communities
- Topics
- Content categories
- Engagement environments
Advertisers align with relevant moments, not personal identities, so you keep privacy without giving up performance. For the context signals Genuin passes to ad exchanges, see how zero-party data powers your social experience and media revenue.
Feed ranking and discovery
Zero-party data drives smarter feed ranking, more relevant content discovery, and healthier community dynamics. Relevance is earned from what people choose, not assumed. For how Genuin picks the videos in a contextual feed, see How contextual feeds choose videos.
Who controls the data
- You keep control of your user data.
- People keep control of what they share.
- Genuin acts as a processor of the data, not its owner.
- Advertisers activate against context, not individuals.
This model aligns with global privacy expectations and still supports revenue. For how Genuin applies consent in practice, see privacy and consent with zero-party data.
