# 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 [How Control works](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/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

In your Business Account, **Settings** > **Guided Onboarding Controls** brings the question back for people who skip interest selection. With **Enable Interest selection popup** on, they're asked to pick interests after the number of swipes you set, from 1 to 5. Mobile and web use the same settings.

### 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](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/log-in-seamlessly-across-your-brand-ecosystem-using-sso).

After you configure SSO in **Settings** > **Setup Single Sign On (SSO)**, your web app's login flow shows an extra button for signing in with SSO.

For people who skipped setup, **Enable username popup** and **Enable complete profile popup** in **Guided Onboarding Controls** ask for a username or the rest of their profile.

### 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](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/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](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/business-account/how-can-brands-leverage-user-interests-for-community-growth).

### 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](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-zero-party-data-powers-brand-communities-and-media-revenue-without-compromising-consumer-trust).

### 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](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/how-do-i-configure-and-display-contextual-feeds-as-onsite-embeds).

## 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](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-does-genuin-ensure-privacy-and-consent-with-zero-party-data).

To send platform data to your own data service, connect **S3 Bucket**, **Mixpanel**, or **BigQuery** in **Settings** > **Data Sources**. Only one service can be active at a time.

## See also

- [How zero-party data powers your social experience and media revenue](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-zero-party-data-powers-brand-communities-and-media-revenue-without-compromising-consumer-trust)
- [How privacy and consent work with zero-party data](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-does-genuin-ensure-privacy-and-consent-with-zero-party-data)
- [Zero-party data from the Genuin SDK](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/business-account/how-zero-party-data-from-genuin-sdk-powers-brand-communities-and-generates-media-revenue)
- [Receive zero-party data in BigQuery](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/connect-bigquery-to-the-business-account-to-receive-zero-party-data)
- [Privacy and VPPA: the two-channel data flow](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/privacy-and-vppa-the-two-channel-data-flow)