Groundbreaking Study Reveals the Biggest Threat to AI Initiatives Is Dirty Data

"88% of companies ignore consumer preferences: the hidden crisis undermining AI and competitive advantage"

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ketch, a Data Permissioning Platform for privacy operations and data activation, today announced the publication of "Dirty Data, Broken AI: The Hidden Threat Derailing Your Competitive Edge." The research sheds light on a critical risk facing businesses leveraging artificial intelligence (AI): the pervasive issue of "dirty data" and its potential to derail AI-driven growth strategies.

As AI becomes an essential tool for personalized marketing, decision-making, and business optimization, the foundation of its success hinges on the quality of data fueling it. Ketch's study, based on an analysis of over 1.7 trillion monthly data events across 134 prominent U.S. websites, exposes a startling trend:

• 88% of companies fail to respect user opt-out preferences, with nearly 40% of privacy-dependent trackers remaining active despite opt-out signals. This widespread disregard not only breaches consumer trust but also exposes businesses to significant regulatory enforcement and reputational damage.
• 215 billion unpermissioned “dirty data” events are generated every month, with over 55% of collected data fueling marketing and personalization efforts. Much of this data is gathered without proper consent or after an opt out, creating a tainted flow of information that undermines AI-driven insights and exposes businesses to compliance risks.
• Dirty data infiltrates AI systems, compromising their integrity and increasing the risk of costly retraining. AI models depend on accurate, permissioned data; contamination forces businesses to halt operations, rebuild data pipelines, and retrain models–introducing delays that competitors can exploit to seize market share.

"AI's effectiveness is only as strong as the data it learns from," says Vivek Vaidya, Ketch Co-founder and CTO. "When businesses unknowingly feed their AI models with data collected without proper consent, they risk corrupting their entire AI operation–undermining insights, eroding customer trust, and exposing themselves to significant regulatory risks.”

Ketch urges businesses to act decisively to safeguard their AI initiatives:

1. Stop AI projects powered by dirty data. Halt any AI initiatives using data that isn’t fully compliant or permissioned to avoid operational and regulatory risks.
2. Audit your consent management tools. Ensure your systems actively honor consumer preferences and prevent unauthorized data collection at every touchpoint.
3. Put technology in the driver’s seat. Make your CTO the champion of privacy, with engineers leading implementation to align compliance with innovation.

“Dirty data is a double-edged sword–it erodes consumer trust and sabotages AI initiatives,” said Tom Chavez, co-founder and CEO of Ketch. “Businesses that fail to respect consumer preferences risk not only regulatory fines but also the operational and competitive fallout of corrupting their AI models. Clean, permissioned data is the cornerstone of sustainable, AI-driven growth and innovation.”

“Dirty Data, Broken AI: The Hidden Threat Derailing Your Competitive Edge” can be downloaded in full here: https://www.ketch.com/resources/dirty-data-broken-ai-study

About Ketch

Ketch is redefining responsible data use for the AI era. The Ketch Data Permissioning Platform is the new layer of business technology that helps brands collect, control, and activate permissioned, privacy-safe data across every device, system, and third-party app. Brands around the world use Ketch to simplify privacy and consent operations, increase revenue from advertising, data, and AI initiatives, and build trust with customers and partners. Learn more at ketch.com.