DIRECT MARKETING: THE USE OF PERSONAL DATA FOR ADVERTISING IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

Advertising through digital media and direct marketing communication in the digital environment requires compliance with particular regulations governing this area, which relate to the collection and use of personal data and coordination of all marketing communication activities in the campaign's implementation. For direct marketing communication for advertising and use of personal data, the respondent must give his consent by which he agrees that his data can be used for: direct marketing, specific electronic communication channels through which he will receive promotional messages, as well as a third party's usage of his data. By browsing the websites, the data on users' habits is being collected automatically or through cookies that users accept in full, in part or not at all, which prevents them from the full functionality of the website and services. Users often automatically and without reading, give their consent or accept cookies without knowing what cookies are or for what they have agreed to give their data and for what purposes. The purpose of this paper is to point out the importance of personal data in the digital environment, i.e., giving consent or acceptance of cookies by users for the processing and handling of personal data. The research aims to show how much of the attention users pay towards protecting their data in the digital environment through the consent and acceptance of cookies or whether they have been informed about it in more detail. The research concept refers to the analysis of the possibilities of direct advertising in the digital environment without violating the personal data of users, the results of the conducted survey research, and recommendations for further analysis and research.