Data Privacy Week gives all of us an opportunity to reflect on how the conversation surrounding data has shifted in the last year or so. We’ve seen a much more intense focus on using data in a responsible manner.
That’s not a coincidence. Data has become an integral and essential part of our everyday lives at home and at work. However, security breaches and privacy incidents have exposed people’s personal information and threaten consumer confidence. That, combined with the arrival of new data protection regulations such as the EU’s GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act, have forced organizations to raise the bar with respect to data governance. Absolutely, we must learn and get better.
Click on the Acxiom banner above to find all our Data Privacy Week articles, and articles on the topic from earlier this year.
We must respond to changing times, but we must be careful not to over-react and stop looking for new ways to use data for beneficial purposes. Data in our everyday lives brings significant benefits to us all, even if they often go unseen. The bottom line is, we all need to continuously improve our ability to use data the right way; switching it off is simply not an option.
The need for self-regulation
The confluence of recent events has contributed to talk of creating a national data privacy law in the United States. Certainly, a uniform standard that would facilitate innovative uses of data while replacing the current patchwork of laws that vary by sector and state is something to look forward to.
But organizations cannot sit around waiting for legislation to dictate their ethical data use strategy. We must all be on our front-foot as we work with the rapid innovation that surrounds us. Naturally, we need to continue to work with regulators who, themselves, are also facing this constantly evolving data landscape. Take wearables and voice-activated devices. Five years ago, these were simply buzzwords. Today, Apple Watches and Amazon Echos are everywhere.
Innovations and the new data sources they create will continue to come to market at a rapid rate. This requires organizations to be both vigilant and proactive in self-regulation and to be accountable to their customers, while still ensuring they can meet their expectations for personalized experiences. This is data ethics in practice.
Embracing ethical data use
Yet, as we see in the news seemingly every day, ethical data use is still an afterthought at too many organizations. I would like to believe, however, that everyone in industry is committed to doing the right thing by their customers – and ethical data use is an extension of that. After all, as a practical matter, data is the customer; it is the only way we can recognize, understand and serve customers at scale. Today, more than ever, “customer first” inevitably has to mean “data first.”
Adopting an ethical data use framework requires serious effort and investment, which may be one reason why data misuse continues. Too few organizations are willing to put in the sweat equity needed to create a strong data ethics program with robust governance.
Although ethical data practices require organizations to establish a number of policies and processes, the purpose of a data ethics program is simple. It must address three fundamental criteria: Is our data use legal, fair and just?
On the legal front, marketers must be confident that the data use complies with laws, regulations and the promises they made in their privacy policies. To determine fairness, marketers must ask: Is data being used in ways that create value for all parties – and would consumers and regulators agree? And to ensure they are being just to individuals, marketers must detect and prevent uses of data that could cause harms, such as bias or discrimination.
As to regulators, assessments will likely become common for companies in order to demonstrate and provide assurances around their data and data processing activities. In fact, my company’s U.K. business will be participating in such a review with the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) early in 2019. We welcome the opportunity to discuss our policies and procedures with the ICO, and naturally we welcome any feedback and advice they may have on ways we might improve.
Such regulatory audits benefit a number of constituencies – consumers, regulators, marketers, providers, and activist organizations – as greater transparency is generated across the ecosystem. We would also encourage people to consider a proactive stance in ensuring their business is operating to the highest standards of ethical data use. For example, we undertook and passed an independent audit with the U.K.’s DMA in May 2018, and we are audited directly by our clients multiple times a year. Working together, the whole industry can ensure data delivers benefits to people and businesses alike and that it is securely managed between all parties.
Going beyond what the law requires will pay significant dividends for organizations. Consumers trust organizations to collect and use their data in a responsible manner, and organizations that put data ethics at the center of all they do will strengthen customer trust and loyalty. In order to thrive in this data-driven economy, ethical use of data is no longer optional – it’s a necessity.
Jordan Abbott serves as the Head of Data Ethics for Acxiom with overall responsibility for ensuring the ethical sourcing and use of consumer data. Jordan directs the enterprise data governance, protection, and privacy program for the organization and establishes the corporate policies, procedures, and strategy practices for the collection and use of all forms of data.
