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🚀 Understanding data types is essential for modern marketing and analytics. In this episode, Ievgen and Ilya break down the four major data types—first-party, second-party, third-party, and zero-party data—and how businesses can use them to drive growth while staying compliant with privacy laws.
🔍 What you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ The key differences between first-party, second-party, third-party, and zero-party data.
2️⃣ How businesses can leverage first-party data for better decision-making and marketing personalization.
3️⃣ Why third-party data is declining and how to replace it with privacy-friendly alternatives.
📈 Want to take control of your data strategy? Learn how to collect, manage, and optimize data for smarter insights and stronger customer relationships.
➡️ Start owning your data today with OWOX BI
Ievgen: Hi everyone! Welcome back to the Data Crunch Podcast. I’m Ievgen from OWOX and Today, I am your host for this episode. Today I want to talk about something super important for any business in 2025 — different types of data: First-party, second-party, third-party, and zero-party data. And I’ve invited here - Our Analytics Solution Architect, Ilya, who is joining me here today, and I hope he will help me unpack this all for you.
How’s it going, Ilya?
Ilya: Hey Ievgen! I’m doing great and excited to simplify this topic for everyone.
Ievgen: Perfect! Let’s start with the basics. Why should businesses, why should marketers care about these types of data? Oh, before we do that, guys, If you’re watching us on YouTube, please hit that subscribe button, and leave a comment down below, because your engagement fuels my passion to host this Data Crunch Podcast and create more content to help you master data and analytics. If you’re listening to us on the other podcast platforms, hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for the next episode. We launch that every Thursday. So once again, Ilya, Why should businesses, why should marketers care about data, about first-party, second-party, and third-party data?
Ilya: Great question. Data helps businesses (1) to understand their customers, (2) create better experiences, (3) and make smarter decisions.
Knowing the differences between data types helps them (1) to create a stronger business strategy (2) and, not less importantly, to challenge current privacy laws down the same road.
Ievgen: That’s a great point! Let’s dive into the first and most important one—first-party data.
Ilya: Of course! So, first-party data is the most valuable ( ) because it comes directly from your business and customers. You collect it through your website, app, social media, or surveys. It’s accurate and reliable. And has to be the foundation for further marketing strategy.
Ievgen: Can you give us some simple examples?
Ilya: Sure! I’ll give the most common example - customer’s purchase history — what they buy, when, and on what terms. For instance, the delivery address can be recognized as the location in the business data model. In addition, customer reviews and after-purchase feedback are also significant data inputs for completing this picture.
Ievgen: That sounds useful. Are there any challenges with collecting it?
Ilya: Today, the main challenge is being transparent in your relationships with the customer. In other words, to create a circle of trust. Businesses need to be honest about how they are going to use the customer’s data and never fail this commitment. Customers, on the other hand, by accepting those rules are voting to get better service. While the businesses are getting valuable growth insights.
Ievgen: Makes sense. But what if you want to learn more about potential customers outside your audience?
Ilya: That’s where second-party data comes in. It is a type of data in which someone else’s first-party data is shared and combined with yours. Usually through partnership terms.
For example, a travel agency might share insights with a hotel chain to combine the knowledge and help both businesses understand their customers better.
Ievgen: How do you use it effectively?
Ilya: The key point, again, is trust. Partnerships should benefit both sides and be transparent. And there are tools like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) that can help organize and use this data effectively.
Ievgen: What are some practical examples?
Ilya: A fitness app might team up with a nutrition brand to share user data. This helps them create personalized and co-branded offers for their customers.
Ievgen: That’s a smart way to expand your reach. Now, let’s talk about the most debated type of data—third-party data. First, because browsers say they are going away. Plus, third-party data often gets a bad reputation. But does it still have a role in marketing?
Ilya: It does, but its role is shrinking. Third-party data comes from, let’s say, brokers who collect it from many sources, like user agents. It’s helpful for broad market insights or audience expansion, but it’s less precise and harder to trust.
Ievgen: When saying brokers, you mean mostly browsers, yes? Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.
Ilya: The frontline is Safari. Apple has invested a lot in Intelligence tracking prevention restrictions. Speaking about the last year, the rules of treating the browser cookie as a third party had changed 3 times. The common case for marketers is that Google Analytics tracker data is recognized as 3rd party collected. For a reason, of course, as it is basically collected by a tool, not owned by the business.
Ievgen: What are the downsides of relying on this kind of data? Third-party data.
Ilya: Surely, the privacy. With regulated privacy laws like GDPR, relying too much on third-party data can be risky. Like in marketing, in some cases, you lose up to 50% of user acquisition data. That’s why many businesses today are focusing on first-party data.
Ievgen: So, what’s the future of third-party data?
Ilya: It’ll still be around but in a limited way. Businesses are pushed to combine it (1) with strong first-party strategies and (2) tools like OWOX BI Streaming to collect those website interactions, to stay compliant and complete. I mean, in terms of data.
Ievgen: What makes tools like server-side GTM and OWOX BI Streaming better when it comes to collecting data rather than relying on third-party browser cookies?
Ilya: Firstly, I would like to add that providing a server-side tracking environment is a pattern for many technology partners today, like Meta, which has recently launched their Signals Gateway.
Secondly, answering your question briefly: those tools give businesses control over the tracking rules. (1) If you want to own the cookie and (2) make it countable as a first-party -> set the tracking from the business domain according to the rules, and you have it!
Today, in 2025 there are many options to control your tracking: from easy and cost-effective to enterprise-designed.
Ievgen: Got it. Now, let’s move to the newcomer everyone’s excited about—zero-party data. What is it?
Ilya: Zero-party data is what customers willingly share with you. It’s proactive—like when they fill out a quiz, survey, or preference center. It’s super accurate and aligns perfectly with privacy regulations.
Ievgen: That sounds ideal. But it’s also harder to collect… People rarely share things about themselves and their preferences…
Ilya: It can be, because it’s based on trust. You need to offer something valuable in return, like personalized recommendations, a gift, or something useful for free. For example, a fitness app might ask users about their workout preferences and use that info to create custom workout plans.
Ievgen: Why don’t you share with our listeners some tips for collecting more of the zero-party data?
Ilya: Make it fun and useful! Quizzes, surveys, and loyalty programs. Anything that matches your business goals. And always be clear about how you’ll use the data to improve their experience. It has to be valuable for the user as well.
Ievgen: Great advice, Ilya. This was super helpful! What are the top takeaways for our listeners from today’s super short episode on first, second, third and zero-party data?
Ilya: To recap:
Ievgen: Awesome summary! For those who want to dive deeper, what’s the next step?
Ilya: I would start with an audit: what pieces of data do you miss from the list. What pieces can help you grow?
Check out the OWOX BI platform. You can get started free right from our website, owox.com. We have plenty of tools to collect, organize, report & analyze any type of data you own. The good news, it’s 100% compliant with privacy laws. Some of the tools are completely free, some of them are a little bit paid, some of them are easy to go, others - require some technical setup. Just check it out yourself. And if you need help - just ping us in the chat to get expert support.
Ievgen: I would like to add that we stand for data ownership as the right for all of the businesses. No matter how big you are, or what’s your expertise in handling data, you must own your data. That’s the first step for any analytics or reporting. That’s why we’ve recently announced a FREE way of collecting any data into Google Sheets. We call it OWOX JS Data Connectors, and I’ll leave a link in the description to this video. You can check it out, get your data, or participate in this open-source movement that we’ve launched to empower anyone and everyone to own the data they need.
So thank you, Ilya, for tuning in, and thanks to you guys for listening to us on whatever podcasting platforms you’re doing that now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more simple and actionable analytics tips. Until next time, keep exploring your data, stay curious, and happy analyzing!
