The New Standard of Data Privacy

The data captured from our personal devices serves as the foundation of some of the world’s biggest companies. Personal data also serves as a springboard for countless small businesses leading to enhanced personalization, detailed customer insights, and market predictions. For the past twenty years, the use of personal data has gone largely unregulated. But with the rise in competition and consumer awareness, those days are ending.??

Data was hidden from most lawmakers and consumers for most of those twenty years. It was considered “company property” and was treated as such. That’s no longer the case and the demand for control of personal data has never been higher. Instead of a resource waiting to be claimed, data is now seen as an asset that individuals trust companies with.?

Giving consumers more control over their personal data can open new opportunities for personalization. While Ad-Tech companies take the brunt of the changes, any company with a lot of customer data will have to make sweeping changes to its data privacy practices.?

Larger companies are already taking the initiative to improve their practices before required. The key to making this transition as seamless as possible is recognizing how their data operations function and reorganizing them to comply with fundamental rules of consent and insight.?

Converging Forces?

While the rapid changes in the personal data industry are driving change, we’ve identified three distinct pressures causing massive waves across the industry.?

1. Consumer awareness.?

Consumers are more aware than ever of the amount of personal data bought, sold, shared, and used without their consent. And the social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are noticing the shift. Both are facing declines in their daily active users.?

2. Government legislation.?

Federal lawmakers are fighting to limit the power of big tech. In 2021 alone, stage legislators passed over 27 online privacy bills to regulate data markets and protect personal data. Lawmakers worldwide are creating new legislation to match the likes of the EU’s GDPR while the EU is looking into regulation using AI. It’s becoming more difficult for companies to comply with the new changes.?

3. Market competition.?

Last year, Apple upgraded its iPhone OS to give users the ability to deny tracking across several apps. While that was a nice change for consumers, social media apps struggled to the tune of $10 billion in revenue in the second half of the year. Meta, the parent company of FB, estimates it’ll cost them an additional $10 billion in 2022.??

Challenges Ahead for Large Firms?

For larger companies, these changes bring new challenges. Most large businesses already have several internal issues regarding who handles data. The CIO’s focus is to keep the data secure from hackers. The CDO wants to use it for personalization. Some have even added additional positions such as Chief Data Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, and Chief Privacy Officers to help fill in the gaps.?

These roles overlap, creating multiple legacy systems, complex data-sharing agreements, and usually a lack of clarity on using the data. This lack of clarity can take a significant chunk of an IT department’s budget, leaving little for data innovation.?

The new standard of data privacy won’t allow for these inefficiencies for long. If your company benefits from personal data, changes will have to be made.??

Rule 1: Trust over transactions.?

Consent is number one on the list. Until now, the goal has been to collect as much data as possible on a consumer – identities, habits, etc., without the consumer knowing what it’s being used for. But with consumers demanding more control, consented data will prove the most valuable because it’s the only data they can use.??

Companies need to find new ways to build trust with consumers by showing them how their data will be used. Companies can use providers' users with multiple options to give them the level of control and personalization they prefer. The more detailed your consent management practices are, the more valuable your day becomes.??

Rule 2: Insight over identity.?

Companies need to think twice about how they collect data from consumers and other companies. Right now, most companies regularly transfer copious amounts of personal data through complex agreements and networks, leaving gaps in both privacy and security. But with today’s technology, companies can gain insight without access to the data itself. Combining data and algorithms can work in tandem to deliver insights by exchanging non-identifying statistics.??

Rule 3: Flows over silos.?

This last rule is an addition to the previous two and services as a new way to organize internal data teams. Once you’ve obtained insight from consent data, your CIO and CDO no longer need to work separately with different goals. Instead, they can work together to promote insights with a common goal of gaining maximum insight while maximizing customer benefit.??

The Data-Sharing Future?

New companies like Adzapier are already providing the structure needed to meet the demands of these types of data-sharing arrangements. The creation of data representatives, custodians, and agents makes managing consent at scale an easier task. Additionally, data co-ops are becoming a common partnership in many parts of the United States.?

The end of the old world of data privacy will not bring the end of its wealth generation for those who know how to harness it. Instead, it’ll redistribute wealth and carry less risk for businesses and consumers. Data will no longer be something that needs to be hoarded. Instead, consumers can share their data with companies and expect a better return on their investment. They may even allow those companies to share insights drawn from their data — provided the benefits accrue to them.?

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