As data collaboration has become the bedrock of data-driven marketing, so has the noise surrounding it. 

Marketers are bombarded with buzzwords, technical jargon, and competing claims, creating misconceptions and making it difficult to understand the inner workings of different platforms. These misconceptions often lead to painful reality checks down the line. Costly implementation headaches, unexpected limitations, and, in the worst cases, having to switch solutions entirely when the platform fails to deliver on its initial promise.

The first step to collaborating with confidence is to dispel uncertainty and gain clarity. In this blog, we’ll dismantle common myths and misconceptions that hinder progress.

Myth 1: All data collaboration platforms offer the same level of privacy

This is false and risky to believe. The truth is that solutions vary widely in the level of privacy and security they provide, making it risky to take marketing claims at face value. So, how do you compare and analyse each solution? You must interrogate a platform’s architecture. Here’s how:

• Privacy should be on by default: It should be built into the platform from the ground up, where it cannot be turned off. Not an add-on or optional setting that requires manual configuration. This ensures every action is automatically secure, eliminating the risk of human error and guaranteeing the protection of your data.
• What privacy-enhancing technologies does it use? Each PET has its strengths and weaknesses. Robust protection comes from deploying PETs in combination, such as differential privacy, secure multi-party computation, and federated learning, which work together to protect data from every angle.
• Ensure non-movement of data: A truly private platform enforces zero data movement. Your data should never be shared, moved to a centralized location, or pooled with other data. 

Myth 2: You have to sacrifice performance for privacy

A long-standing belief in marketing is that there is a direct trade-off between privacy and performance: protect customer data at the cost of results, or drive results by compromising on privacy. This myth often persists due to the vested interests of solutions that bolt ‘clean rooms’ onto identity solutions, for example, where privacy is not the primary function or concern. 

However, for a purpose-built platform, this trade-off is obsolete, and privacy becomes the catalyst for superior performance. When there are protections and guarantees around privacy, partners are more willing to connect their data with full fidelity, unlocking richer insights that lead to more effective campaigns. Using InfoSum, brands that place privacy at the heart of their data strategies drive real outcomes, including $1 million in cost savings from reduced media waste, a 3x ROI within six months, and a 20% increase in conversions.

Myth 3: Data collaboration is overly complex and requires technical expertise

The perception of complexity in data collaboration often stems from a real problem: many platforms are built for data scientists and require advanced skills, such as SQL proficiency, to operate, sidelining non-technical teams and everyday business users. When tools are unnecessarily complex, businesses face costly delays, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities.

This is why InfoSum has focused on making collaboration as fast and efficient as possible. Our modern self-serve platform offers an intuitive, marketer-friendly UI with drag-and-drop functionality and features like Collaborations that empower business users. We also provide advanced, full-code capabilities and products such as Private Path for teams that require deeper functionality and analysis. 

This approach ensures that every team, regardless of technical ability, can be in the driving seat for data collaboration.

Myth 4: Data collaboration is only for 1:1 matches and one-off campaigns

The evolution of data collaboration has moved far beyond simple one-to-one matching. Initially, these matches showed that advertisers and media owners could collaborate to enhance marketing performance. This success led to multi-party collaborations, enabling more advanced use cases and innovative advertising solutions.

This has culminated in the era of Private Data Networks (PDNs): bespoke, unique-to-your-business, and decentralized data ecosystems for fast, safe, and repeatable collaboration. PDNs offer a more strategic, integrated approach to data collaboration that enables you to curate new, diverse datasets rather than commoditized ones widely available on marketplaces. This empowers you to build a distinct data advantage over your competitors who can’t replicate your data strategy. 

These networks provide the foundation for an always-on framework on which AI can be layered on top to unlock intelligent growth, a concept brought to life by WPP’s Open Intelligence. 

Myth 5: You can’t collaborate if you don’t have first-party data

Believing this myth means you are missing out on growth opportunities. The truth is, companies with limited to no first-party data often have the most to gain from collaboration. For these companies, PDNs really shine. By curating a bespoke network of partners, brands can securely access high-quality data from trusted partners to better understand their audiences and reach them more effectively. For example:

• In a three-way collaboration, Heineken leveraged Tesco’s shopper data and ITV’s addressable audience to drive a 189% sales uplift.
• Automotive brands, collaborating with ITV and Carwow, identified in-market buyers and delivered a 133% uplift in mid-funnel actions.
• Renault, working with publisher Axel Springer, used its own data to create lookalike audiences that delivered an 18% higher conversion rate than traditional targeting.

Having limited first-party data doesn’t mean you’re locked out of collaboration, it means you have the most to gain.

Myth 6: Data collaboration has an interoperability problem

This is not a myth, it’s a reality for many platforms. Some solutions are tied to a proprietary ID, a single cloud provider, or a walled garden, creating lock-in that restricts your ability to collaborate freely. However, this is a limitation of a specific platform's design, not a fundamental flaw of data collaboration itself.

True data collaboration must be unrestricted. It should empower you to work across any cloud, platform, region, or data format. At InfoSum, we launched Beacons to solve this exact problem. Beacons are a lightweight, native app, deployed directly into a company’s own cloud or warehouse environment to power cross-cloud collaboration. This allows you to seamlessly collaborate across the ecosystem with any partner, anywhere, without restriction, creating a truly interoperable data ecosystem.

Moving past myths to focus on what truly matters

The data collaboration landscape is complex, but it doesn’t have to be confusing. As we've discussed, many perceived barriers are not foundational truths but persistent myths. The path to a resilient, high-performing data strategy begins with this clarity, empowering you to make fact-based decisions. 

At InfoSum, our philosophy is simple: data collaboration should be fast, simple, and easy for everyone. We focus relentlessly on removing friction and barriers to the collaboration process, so you can concentrate on what truly matters: driving performance, unlocking innovation, and building sustainable growth for your business.