First-Party Data

What Is First-Party Data?

First-party data is data a company collects directly from users through its own channels and touchpoints. It comes from a direct relationship with the user or customer, not from an outside provider.
That can include behavioural data from a website, app, or product, but it is not limited to product analytics. First-party data can also include purchase history, contact data, email interactions, support history, and direct user insights collected through owned channels.

Zero-, First-, Second-, and Third-Party Data

These data types are related, but they are not the same. 

Zero-party data is information users intentionally share, such as preferences, survey answers, or declared interests. First-party data is data collected directly through your own website, app, product, CRM, or other owned touchpoints. These two types are obviously quite close.

Second-party data is someone else’s first-party data shared through a trusted partnership.

Third-party data is data collected by outside aggregators with no direct relationship to your audience.

Zero-Party Data vs. First-Party Data

The difference between zero-party and first-party data is subtle, but important.
Zero-party data is explicitly and intentionally provided by the user. First-party data is collected from direct interactions with your brand, whether the user actively declares something or not. In simple terms, zero-party data is what people tell you. First-party data is what you learn from the relationship you already have with them across your own channels.

How Teams Use First-Party Data

Teams use first-party data to build a better understanding of their audience, not just to track in-product actions. It can support:

• customer profiles and segmentation;
• personalisation;
• support and service context;
• retention and lifecycle analysis;
• direct user insight collection;
• safer, more compliant data strategies built on owned relationships.

In products with social or interactive features, first-party data may also include preferences, conversations, participation signals, and repeated feedback over time. Because this data comes from direct relationships, it is often more useful for understanding user needs, shaping product decisions, and building trust than outside data sources. This is especially true when teams use owned spaces to gather direct user insights.

Read our article about the ways first-party data can help your business