Living in the era of post data privacy?
Data Privacy is paramount; breaches, hacks and identity theft are just some of the risks we are all exposed to. The internet put the world at our fingertips.
Want to know something? Google it. Want to buy something? Order it online. But with this freedom has come risk. To sign up for brand accounts or make a purchase we have to share our data. Social Media accounts gather user data from the minute they create an account. Our friends, posts, preferences, likes, reshares and subgroups all tell the platform a story about who you are. Connections and personal preferences are valuable data that can be sold or used internally to better target advertising.
Google and Facebook are the leading companies investing in Artificial Intelligence, which will allow them to delve even further into who we are. They are building research facilities in Paris making it the European hub for AI. Futuristic shows such as Westworld paint a terrifying picture of a world where technology can imitate us flawlessly, and companies can use algorithms to predict our every move before we make them, meanwhile many of us joined Facebook without an understanding of what we have given away.
Google and Facebook are the leading companies investing in Artificial Intelligence, which will allow them to delve even further into who we are. They are building research facilities in Paris making it the European hub for AI. Futuristic shows such as Westworld paint a terrifying picture of a world where technology can imitate us flawlessly, and companies can use algorithms to predict our every move before we make them, meanwhile many of us joined Facebook without an understanding of what we have given away.
Given the critical nature of our data, should we all go off the grid? Does data privacy mean having no connection to the outside world?
No, absolutely not. We should be able to continue to take advantage of our greater access without fear of data theft or misuse.
This is why at EVERY we are not just planning to focus on just security or privacy; but rather on data ownership. Data ownership is a principle of stewardship that lies at the core of data security and privacy.
It is our data, and we should be able to do as we wish with it.
Data ownership means that companies will explicitly gain customer permission to use customer data. For example, if you follow a brand on Facebook, the platform knows that you like that and other similar brands. This data is then given to companies that use Facebook’s advertising platform to serve and improve their ads. They combine this data with your Facebook friends’ data to determine if your friends might like the brand as well. The data they gather is so specific that users can feel like Facebook is listening through the microphones on their devices (not true). Reply All did a special describing how Facebook’s data gathering works: it’s an advertising process that feels invasive.
This is why EVERY is building an ecosystem focused on data ownership. Consumers should not be expected to sign over all of their data rights to use a platform; rather they should be explicitly asked for the use of their data in a blockchain-powered exchange that allows shoppers to monetize that data by gaining loyalty points and custom discounts directly with brands.
EVERY shoppers will choose to share their data.
