It’s not about GDPR. It’s about who you can trust.
Start with knowing how your personal data is used. Then change what you don’t like.
Wondering why you’re suddenly getting so many emails and prompts to accept new terms of use and privacy policies by companies? It’s not a sudden surge in being forthcoming, just the effect of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becoming enforceable on 25 May 2018.
Why the rush? This regulation means that companies face significant consequences if authorities find them in violation of how they must treat your personal data. Now companies are struggling to get the legally required consent from their customers, leading to this surge of messages asking for it in polite or sometimes even pressuring ways.
But this does not solve the real problem affecting your life. It’s not about GDPR or any other data protection regulation. It’s about who you can trust with your personal information.
Your ability to trust that a company treats your personal data with respect is something fundamental. Take a moment to think about what digital footprints we leave behind when we sign up for a newsletter, join a customer program, see advertising for a product we looked at on the web, or use a “free” Wi-Fi network?
Everyday life situations such as applying for jobs, a mortgage or simply making a purchase make it increasingly important to know and control what personal information is out there.
At the same time, increased spam and news of yet another data breach make us feel exposed. Today, the uncertainty and complexity surrounding how to establish a clear view of our digital life, how to control it and whom to trust leave us increasingly frustrated.
“It’s overwhelming, where do I even start?”
“I am worried about my data, but don’t have the time or knowledge to contact companies individually or read through all the privacy policies and terms of use they put in front of me.”
“I receive so many messages regarding data privacy, but I don’t understand all of it and don’t have time to read the fine print.”
Realizing that the challenge is not about the law but about whom to trust, my Co-Founder Lukas and I started our entrepreneurial journey to create a meaningful service that would positively impact people’s lives. We believe that privacy is a fundamental human right, and it takes tangible and visible action to uphold it. So we created One.Thing.Less and offer individuals a simple and free way to take control over the use of their personal data.
Making it easy to ask what matters.
We believe that the first step in deciding which businesses to trust is to know how they use your personal data. With one click, we approach companies selected by the user on her or his behalf and ask seven important questions about how they use her or his personal data. Questions such as: if they have a user’s personal data, if they share it with others, if they profile the user, monitor online or offline behavior, or track her or his location. Essentially what matters to most people.
We do not ask for a user’s personal data itself, our platform service helps individuals to get answers to these questions. A push notification informs the user the moment a company responds, so users can easily review its answers and ask to change what they don’t like. With one click. All in one app. And free of charge for individuals as we believe that our users should not have to pay for transparency regarding the use of their personal data.
Empowering digital trust.
This is a moment of truth for companies, as many of them pride themselves on being very customer-focused.
Now they have the choice to walk the talk and show that they respect their customers in a transparent and proactive way, and not just care about formal compliance.
By working with our platform, they give you the transparency you want and a simple way to request the changes you want to make without you having to do the legwork. It gives you One.Thing.Less to worry and think about.
To earn your trust, we had our own services, organization, technology and controls independently audited by Ernst & Young, so that you can rest assured that what we promise is what we deliver. We also do not sell personal information, and our solution is free of advertising.
To be very transparent — we make money by helping companies to answer customer requests regarding the use of their personal data faster, efficiently, and more secure using our platform, as fulfilling their duties to grant their customers’ individual rights is absolutely essential to avoid distrust by customers, media and data protection authorities.
You have the power. We call it “The Power of One.”
There is no question that the topic of data privacy for individuals is top of mind, and keeps many people worrying about something that they should be entitled to control.
Regulatory frameworks such as GDPR can facilitate change in managing privacy and personal data, but we believe that the most powerful force of change is the voice of a customer asking for that change. Your voice.
As a customer, you have every right to ask a company how they use your personal data. Our app and platform make it easy and free for you to do so, giving you “The Power of One”. If a company ignores your request, refuses to respond or wants you to find the answers on your own, then you’ll be the judge if you want to trust them or not.
Want to know whom to trust?
Ready to get started? Then we have three suggestions for you:
1. You can already pre-order our iOS app in the Apple App Store or register for the Android launch notification on our website. Our go-live date is 25 May 2018.
2. Help others to become aware and share this post using your favorite personal and professional social media channels.
3. Let us know which companies you would like us to consider to add to our app using our anonymous digital suggestion box.
Thank you for reading this post, and please let us know what you think.
