Consumer to take charge!
6:00AM: Alarm goes off on the smart speaker (example: Google Home / Amazon Alexa) and the coffee machine, on pre-programmed settings, revs to life to brew my morning cup of coffee
6:15AM: While I am sipping my freshly brewed cuppa, a drone delivery agent delivers my morning newspaper
6:45AM: I complete my personal weights training session with a top fitness instructor using haptic VR controllers
7:30AM: About to take my post workout shower, I check my office laptop for commuting decision — each morning, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system optimizes the number of employees physically reporting to the premises. Decision is based on multiple factors: # of inter-department meetings, # of available parking slots, and traffic contribution and carbon footprint on the road. An email just popped in to communicate that it was my turn to WFH
9:00AM: I start the day with morning stand-up meeting through a video-conferencing tool to plan the day’s deliverables ahead
12:30PM: During lunchtime, I log into my teleconsultation appointment with my family physician. To start our discussion, she pulls relevant medical data from my Electronic Health Record, fully interoperable now, and personal medical/fitness devices to begin diagnosis. The appointment culminates with a prescription and claims request being sent to pharmacist and insurance plan, respectively
6:00PM: As I conclude my workday, my video doorbell (example: Amazon Ring) rings — a delivery robot fulfills my medicine order from the pharmacy (remember doctor’s appointment)
10:00PM: I binge watch the next Netflix Original on my Augmented Reality TV and eventually doze off in the bed, while my robotic vacuum cleaner springs to life to mop the floor in the background
Is this the trailer of Steven Spielberg’s next Sci-fi film, or 2035? Roll-back 6-months and only a few of us could have imagined this as a reality, but in this Covid-19 era of social distancing and virtual life, this day schedule doesn’t look like a leap of faith! While how soon will our society evolve to this state is a matter worthy of its own discussion, what I plan to discuss is a series of questions that we as consumers need to answer proactively to influence this seemingly Utopian world that intends to offer more real-time connectivity and convenience, better quality of life, and lesser carbon footprint and environment pollution (arguably e-waste can increase).
The prime trade-off in the above interconnected world is between convenience and data privacy. We have already witnessed various instances of data breach or un-consented use of consumer data. Talking of consent, how many of consumers actually read the ‘Terms & Conditions’ / ‘Terms of Service’ during sign-up. Even if you do read, majority of time, you can only opt-out of marketing campaigns and must agree with the terms of services to use the service. I understand that some amount of data needs to be collected to maintain the integrity of the platform. For instance, IP addresses and geographic source of traffic enables firms to publish content in compliance with local regulations. However, as a consumer, I should know and decide for myself the level of privacy I am ready to give up using a product / service. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect as of January 1, 2020, is a step towards empowering the consumer, but to leverage such regulations, we, consumers should answer the following questions:
- Do I know what type of data is available with the product / service provider?
- Account Identifiers: account holder’s name, email address/telephone number
- Metadata and technical information: usage log, IP address, etc.
- Content Created: write-ups, photographs, etc.
- How are these datatypes collected? Which of them are essential for uninterrupted services?
- Voluntary
- Automated collection through cookies
- Collected as part of providing product / service
- How can each of these datatypes be used — either in anonymized or identifiable form?
- Can the benefit (often convenience) over-weigh cost of privacy — distinguish between low and high-involvement purchases?
- Is there an option to restrict data collection or delete the collected data?
Answer to most of the above questions can be found in the privacy and data policy of firms. Customers can then conduct a cost-benefit analysis and take decision accordingly. Regulations can only empower consumers, ultimately, it is the choice of consumer herself to exercise those powers.
Having said that, I believe that businesses, including start-ups, too have the responsibility of keeping data privacy and cyber security issues at the core of their offering, and educating their customers. While start-ups, especially Fintechs and Healthtechs, are likely to face the brunt of these requirements due to the large overhead drag, it is much more beneficial for them to build a strong moat of consumer trust by addressing these concerns from an early stage. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and CCPA can provide startups guidance on cyber security requirements.
Sources:
https://www.geekwire.com/2019/regulation-coming-startups-thinking-data-security-privacy/
https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/08/ccpa-privacy-law-rocky-start/
