It’s no secret that the pandemic has spurred a dramatic increase in digital usage around the world. According to a report by Bain, 40 million people came online for the first time last year in Southeast Asia alone.
As a result, heaps of data is being generated every day. While this presents a massive opportunity for businesses to drive more swift and informed decisions, it also increases their vulnerability to cyberattacks and compromised privacy.
A report by Imperva found that more data was stolen in just January 2021 than in all of 2017.
This is alarming, especially as the business community’s reliance on data which is now being touted as the new currency, continues to increase.
It also means that to retain consumer trust and competitive edge in the long run, companies need to take significant steps to ensure that they collect, manage and safeguard data correctly.
Develop a system of checks and balances
Many of us still remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, when the company used a loophole in Facebook’s API and created a third-party app to extract sensitive data of some 87 million users nonconsensually.
Not only did this start a furore around privacy rights on social media, but it also taught businesses some important lessons. For instance, organisations dealing with large mines of data must ensure they have a system of checks and balances in place.
This is now starting to happen across the board as key industry players, including Google and Apple, are taking significant steps to prioritise user safety.
Also read: Blockchain is the future of data privacy
At Meltwater, for instance, our team focuses on compliance to social media platforms’ use of rights policy, and we are extremely sensitive to GDPR.
We also have an advisory board, which includes industry veterans, to guide us on how the industry is evolving to ensure we’re always on top of things regarding the ethical use of data.
Invest in security
Singapore witnessed its largest-ever data breach in 2018 when personal details of 1.5 million patients from SingHealth’s specialist outpatient clinics were stolen because their IT agency lacked adequate awareness, resources, and training to respond correctly to the cyberattack.
As our world continues to become more digitally connected, IBM found that three in four organisations worry that remote work would make it more difficult for them to respond to potential data breaches.
Businesses need to invest in security software and infrastructure to protect their systems from such vulnerabilities.
Be transparent with your customers
Last year, a McKinsey survey revealed that consumers’ trust in data collection and privacy practices varies across industries but is low overall. Given this, it’s not surprising that many want to restrict what they share with businesses.
For businesses, the solution is to take a proactive approach rather than a reactive one. This includes explicitly informing and seeking consent for the data you’re collecting and always ensuring adherence to local and national laws concerning data collection and protection.
Finally, in the event of any data breach, be transparent with your customers and communicate how you intend to protect them moving forward.
As we move towards a cookieless world, first-party data is becoming increasingly important for marketers. There’s no avoiding this in the digital era, as it will inherently become a part of every businesses’ core strategy.
The solution is for organisations to develop responsible practices and behaviour to ensure that data privacy continues to go hand-in-hand with profitability.
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