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First-Party Data

First-Party Data

Original book (April 2020) · p. 15

Illustration by Isabela Flores de Moura for First-Party Data
Illustration by Isabela Flores de Moura · original book p. 15

When you’re in your teens and 20s, the first party you go to is never the best one. It’s the second or third party that you look forward to.

By the time you’re in your 30s (or in the case of this author, age 22), you’re too tired to hit up all the other parties. The first party is the best one because you know it’s the only one that matters.

That wisdom can be applied to data sources. Early on, it’s easy to get hooked on all kinds of data, but first-party data is the data that you own, having acquired it directly, and it is by far the most critical data you can gather and use.

With increasing threats to third-party data, from government regulation to the death of third-party cookies, the first party may be the best and only party worth going to (see also: Cookies).