# What is zero-party data?

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**Category:** Cookies 101
**URL:** https://www.cookieyes.com/knowledge-base/cookies-101/what-is-zero-party-data/

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Zero-party data is **data that a customer voluntarily shares **with a business. It can include the customer’s purchase intentions, communication preferences, personal context or how the individual wants the brand to recognize them. The term, coined by [Forrester Research](https://www.forrester.com/report/QA-What-Marketers-Need-To-Know-About-ZeroParty-Data/RES145095) refers to data that has been proactively given to businesses by their customers or prospects. 
The difference between first-party data and zero-party data is that **first-party data involves data from observation **i.e user behaviour based on how customers interact across a company’s website or app, their clicks, their purchase history, the transactions they make and any form of behavioural data.
Zero-party data leaves no part for inference as it is information that consumers willingly share through on-site forms, surveys, feedback, and other interaction. Both first-party data and zero-party data will be [key for marketing campaigns](https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/10/collect-and-leverage-zero-party-data-to-personalize-marketing-and-drive-growth/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACtCzMNAbwsONz2Lr5IJQ4UkeNjAWJ3rcxdQzx8FHGJE_EVstJUVdCDv7fA0GRbL5yIvQGIF5-4RizIVlCPT3YRb7evGczlEiW725EW9UAoiJ8jNHdMLfGtEqD6sfuY36IAo5B9Y4fGxuwIAhivQESxjy3Yj_PRQbzGyAA_ydxsz) as businesses eventually move away from cookies and similar tracking technologies.