Table of Contents
Overview
The FreeWheel Identity Network enables the onboarding of first-party IDs (1P ID) via partner or personally identifiable information (PII), allowing transactions to be executed directly on your own ID. This capability provides several high-level benefits, including enhanced segmentation, optimization, and measurement. By leveraging your own first-party data, you can ensure more precise audience targeting and better insights across campaigns.
The Identity Network matches identities deterministically whenever possible, ensuring the highest level of accuracy. In cases where deterministic matching isn't feasible, probabilistic methods are employed to maintain scale while still delivering accurate results. With a single integration into FreeWheel, you can seamlessly share and enable your identity data with trusted partners within the FreeWheel ecosystem—eliminating the need for additional identity integrations.
The integration with FreeWheel works seamlessly across both Beeswax and TV Platform, providing a unified solution for cross-platform audience targeting and measurement.
Privacy and Identity Protection
FreeWheel has implemented robust privacy and identity leakage safeguards to protect your data and ensure secure transactions:
- Privacy around Identity Data: FreeWheel will never use a customer's identity data to enhance or improve our own identity assets.
- Technical Guardrails: FreeWheel has built strict technical controls to prevent the exposure or leakage of your identity data to other customers within the platform.
- Consumer Opt-Outs: Consumer opt-out requests are processed and respected within 48 hours, ensuring compliance with privacy preferences.
With these built-in protections, FreeWheel ensures a secure, privacy-compliant environment for all identity-related transactions.
How it Works
The onboarding process begins when a secure, encrypted mapping file is shared with FreeWheel. This file is used to add a first-party ID to the FreeWheel Identity Network using a common key, which links the first-party ID to one that FreeWheel already recognizes. Once the mapping is established, it allows FreeWheel to translate IDs within the network. The mapping file is only used for incorporating the first-party ID, and any future use of that ID will be limited to how it connects to the FreeWheel Identity Network.
There are two options for onboarding a first-party ID:
Onboard via Partner ID – A mapping file linking the first-party ID to a partner ID recognized by FreeWheel can be sent directly to FreeWheel’s S3.
Onboard via PII – A mapping file linking the first-party ID to PII fields accepted by FreeWheel can be submitted to FreeWheel’s S3.
How to Onboard a First Party ID
If interested in onboarding a first-party ID into the FreeWheel Identity Network, certain steps need to be completed. Please connect with your Beeswax Account Representative to initiate this process.
Onboarding first-party IDs into the FreeWheel Identity Network is a process that is managed by FreeWheel, working closely with each customer to accommodate their specific use case. Once integrated, these first-party IDs allow clients to expand the FreeWheel Identity Network, effectively creating a customized identity graph tailored to their needs.
The core graph of the FreeWheel Identity Network ensures that first-party IDs are connected to the central graph but are not directly linked to each other. This provides flexibility and control to the first-party ID owner, who can choose which partners within the FreeWheel ecosystem are able to access and use their ID. This process links their ID to other IDs within the broader network, but it does not involve adding their entire identity graph to FreeWheel’s core system—only the first-party ID itself is included. This allows clients to extend their identity capabilities while maintaining control over how and with who their data is shared.
Steps for Onboarding
Sign new paperwork: The customer must first complete and sign the necessary paperwork with FreeWheel. Please reach out to your beeswax account representative for more information.
Choose an onboarding method: After signing the paperwork, the customer will select one of the two available onboarding methods. Both options will be explained in detail.
Integrate and onboard IDs: Once the onboarding method is chosen, the customer can integrate and onboard their IDs into the system.
Identity resolution: On the backend, the graph will automatically perform identity resolution to match the onboarded IDs with the existing IDs in the graph.
Onboarding Paths for First-Party IDs
| Path | Description |
|---|---|
| Via Partner | Customer works with a mutual partner to deliver the ID mapping on their behalf. |
| Via PII | Customer sends mapping table directly that includes first-party IDs and associated PII. |
Understanding ID Types
An identifier is a mechanism to assign a unique value to a device, browser, or user, to associate with a unique person or audience. It can be used to group devices, browsers, and users at the individual and household level. As part of supporting identity translation, the following are the different ID type categorizations for reference:
All customers with access to the FreeWheel Identity Network can access all available third-party (3P) IDs and universal IDs (UIDs) as part of the core graph. Alternatively, first-party IDs are onboarded via the Customized Graph and require specific permissions to access.
| ID Type | Description |
|---|---|
Third-Party Identifiers (3P IDs) | These identifiers are created and managed on the endpoint a user is currently using. Third-Party IDs are matched into the Identity Network and can include:
These identifiers are used to recognize a user's device across different websites and online platforms. Examples:
|
Universal Identifier (UID) | A standardized, unique identifier used to recognize users across different websites, platforms, and devices in a privacy-conscious manner. UID solutions are designed to address the challenges posed by the decline of third-party cookies and device IDs. Unlike traditional cookies or device IDs, Universal Identifiers are intended to provide more privacy-friendly tracking. Examples:
|
First-Party Identifiers (1P IDs) | These identifiers are collected and managed directly by the device or publisher a user is interacting with, rather than by external third parties. First-party Identifiers can include:
These identifiers are "owned" and managed by a specific party, such as a publisher or advertiser. Examples:
|