The journey to Responsible Big Data: How to recover consumer trust?
The great thing about Big Data is that it is not only available to big corporations with limitless budgets.
Defined as “the new oil” by some, it is becoming common knowledge that data is making its way to being one of the world’s most precious resources. Over the past few years, businesses in a huge variety of different industries are trying to learn how to leverage data to become more successful and profitable.
Companies of all sizes are getting in on the action to:
- increase revenue and cut costs,
- become more efficient,
- have data driven due diligence,
- create competitive advantage,
- fuel innovation and stay ahead of the curve.
How big is Big Data?
By 2020, there will be 4 devices for each human being on the planet.
Bain predicts the combined markets of the Internet of Things (IoT) will grow to about $520BN in 2021, more than double the $235BN spent in 2017. Data center and analytics will be the fastest growing IoT segment, reaching a 50% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2021.
According to an Accenture study, 79% of enterprise executives agree that companies that do not embrace Big Data will lose their competitive position and could face extinction. The total investment in data analytics in the UK is expected to double to nearly £25BN by 2020, from the £12BN in 2017.
Data production in 2020 will be 44 times greater than it was in 2009 and the volume of business data worldwide is estimated to double every 1.2 years. This fact has also a direct effect on the rising trend of Data Science. Most universities across the globe have started to introduce Big Data and AI related courses, while 57% of enterprise organizations now have a Chief Data Officer and further 24% consider creating a CDO position. In US alone, the Big Data boom created about 8 million jobs.
More data — Less trust
The ethical issues discussions have a much more recent date – especially with millennials and GenZ being more aware of their digital identities.
Firms do not know how to make sense of the humongous amount of data and how to use it to their advantage – mainly due to lack of data science techniques and maturity of the data science sector. According to Gartner, only 12% of the total collected data is actually analysed. However, more recent technological innovations – such as AI, machine learning and open source APIs – make it easier for data to be processed effectively and utilised by businesses.
As collection methods and the way such information is analysed is becoming clearer to consumers, the trust in companies and data tools declines. As a result, many people feel under the scrutiny of a “Big Brother” that serves only the economic interest of big corporations. Ultimately, the perception of having little or no control over this process is impacting the reputation of entire industries. Indeed, it is safe to say that privacy is the biggest concern in relation to big data that is currently affecting the masses.
What could be a solution – Anonymity?
Private does not have to mean secret.
Ensuring individual privacy of data is a matter of defining and enforcing some clear information rules, which should not only comprise data collection but its use and retention as well. Companies are used to collecting immense amounts of data about users – often without our knowledge or consent – and have the ability to share it with as many sources as they want, keeping us out of the process’ control.
For big data to work in ethical terms, the data owners – the individuals whose data is being handled – need to have a transparent view of how their data is being used and shared. In an ideal future, people should have the ability to manage the flow of their private information across third-party analytical systems, deciding which parties can utilise their data and which ones must not be able to access it.
An important solution that can potentially attenuate the concern of privacy in the short run could be data anonymisation. This could be a significant tool to protect individual privacy, as it involves either encrypting or removing personally identifiable information from datasets. This process would not stop data from being collected, but it could contribute to ensure a more ethical sourcing of personal information.
Although anonymisation has the power to leave out all the individuality related to data, it is still not clear whether it will be enough for individuals to trust businesses utilising their data.
First real attempt for data privacy
Europe has already demonstrated to be active on the big data front by implementing the GDPR in May 2018. The new regulation aims to protect data and privacy of individuals within the EU, as well as to protect the export of data outside of the European Economic Area.
By imposing a series of compliance tests, the GDPR demands businesses to change their data practices. To avoid publication of private data without explicit consent, companies are now required to provide data safeguards, such as anonymisation or pseudonymisation. Failing to modify their data practices, corporations risk penalties of up to 4% of global turnover or fines that could amount to €20M.
However, after a period of more than 8 months since the official implementation, an exemplar penalty is yet to be witnessed. The positive aspect of the new data regulation is that GDPR is now inspiring similar laws around the world, with California being the first one that followed with their own Customer Privacy Act.
All in all, GDPR and similar regulations are a great opportunity for brands to rebuild a trust-based relationship with their customers, as 74% of them affirm to be more likely to be loyal to a brand that commits to the protection of human data.
To conclude
The real challenge is that regulations are developing at a much slower pace than the technology in question. This makes it the responsibility of individual companies to decide how to utilise the insights offered – by data from mobile phones, wearables, vehicles and smart appliances among others – while living up to their core ethical values.
Data has the opportunity to enhance our daily lives in all aspects. The common fear of a new technology or practice is certainly not a new phenomenon – when the people census survey was introduced, English towns refused it 5 times before it was adopted.
When masses feel empowered and trust the regulations, fear of privacy intrusion reduces significantly. The age of Big Data will then mature and this will be able to benefit not only businesses but communities as a whole, bringing automated decision-making in areas such as employment, health care, education, smart urban planning, lending and many more.
Let us look to a smart but safe future.
At Gyana, we are leading that conversation. Stay tuned to this space for more.
