Good Data: A Moving Target

It is crucial to understand that data comes in many varieties, and I want to emphasize the importance of this idea. As I previously discussed, data plays a vital role in the success of most businesses, and it is imperative to delve deeper to comprehend the varying levels of importance.

First, there are some real challenges facing companies when it comes to acquiring data:

• The data industry is unregulated and controlled by gatekeepers incentivized to keep the data from you.
• Collecting a quantity of actionable first-party data takes time.
• Data begins to decay the moment it’s collected, so first-party data is a resource that requires constant attention.
• Organizing and managing data eats a lot of resources?

In my experience with big data companies, opening up a conversation will provide endless demos of products you can’t afford and data that may be irrelevant, outdated, and decayed. Navigating them is like being in a maze:?

• Each is different;
• They target different pain points;
• Sometimes, they even contradict each other.

Once data is collected, then comes the triple threat of maintaining it and ensuring the data is:?

• Safe
• Current
• Proprietary?

Managing these threats is a resource-intensive challenge where even established data powerhouses struggle. In repeated breaches, Google has seen the data of tens of millions of users compromised. Venmo’s “social” model essentially put all of its data online and hundreds of millions of transactions were, predictably, scraped.

Then there’s the problem of keeping data current, the entropy that begins when data is collected—or data decay. Data needs constant verification and refreshing to maintain validity. This issue can’t be solved just by throwing human resources and money at it.?

In my next post I’ll look at the unique challenges of data’s gold standard: first-party - or proprietary - data. Unlike some other tech, you can’t necessarily acquire yourself into first-party data that suits your needs. But a new approach could change the playing field.

Sources: Sited in article

1. https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/31/google-fi-customer-data-breach/
2. https://firewalltimes.com/google-data-breach-timeline/
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/technology/personaltech/venmo-privacy-oversharing.html
4. https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/16/millions-venmo-transactions-scraped/