Definition
First-party data is information a dealership collects directly from its own customers and shoppers, such as sales and service history, lead conversations and activity on the dealer’s website. The dealer controls it, unlike third-party data that outside providers collect elsewhere and sell or license.
Pasch Group Dealer Glossary
What it means for a dealership
For a dealership, first-party data is usually the most accurate picture of its own customers. It shows who bought, who services with the store, whose lease is ending and who is shopping right now. Second-party data is another company’s first-party data shared under an agreement, such as a manufacturer sharing owner data with its dealers.
Most stores use only part of what they have, because it’s split across the DMS, the CRM, website tools and service systems. Customer data platforms exist largely to join it up and put it to work in sales, service and marketing.
Owning the data also means protecting it. Customer information collected to arrange financing falls under the FTC Safeguards Rule, and many dealer websites load scripts that let outside vendors collect shopper data too. Pasch Group’s website audit research found one dealer site where 10 of 25 advertising scripts kept tracking shoppers after they opted out.
Updated October 11, 2026