The State of Privacy
Privacy was at the heart of many of the recent issues in the tech industry. Companies did not fully understand —or simply ignored — the implications of harvesting and storing private data until regulators took action.
Now, thanks in no small part to regulations like GDPR, privacy awareness is on the rise. The Schrems II decision in July brought compliance with GDPR back on to the agenda for many companies. For your customers, or your customers’ customers, your ability to handle private data remains a key concern.
Due to enhanced awareness and regulations, privacy management has made its way onto most vendor selection checklists — and businesses are investing heavily in solutions. New unicorns that solve compliance issues have emerged quickly.
This year, people around the world will be forced to think about the value of their private data as COVID-19 contact tracing initiatives roll out. They will have to consider the on-device approach Apple and Google have taken as they become more informed buyers.
Privacy Defined:
Privacy centers on giving customers control and oversight of their own data. Respecting privacy means understanding what users intend to share, with whom, and for what purpose, and then acting accordingly.
Key Trends in Privacy in 2020
PRIVACY: TREND 1
Privacy Regulations Take Full Effect
According to Gartner, “By 2023, 65% of the world’s population will have its personal information covered under modern privacy regulations, up from 10% today.” New regulations coming online in 2020 include the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA, US), Personal Data Protection Bill (DPB, India), Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD, Brazil). With new regulations come increases in consumer awareness — and regulators eager to flex their newfound power.
For example, more than 160,000 data breach notifications have been reported across the EU since the GDPR went into effect in May 2018, totaling €150M in fines. This figure doesn’t even include fines in progress, such as the British Airways (€204M) and Marriott ($110M) data breaches. Now, the Schrems II decision has made compliance even more complex.
We expect that new regulations will bring increased scrutiny and individuals will start to demand privacy-preserving options.
Our Prediction
Record Fines in 2020
CCPA will come into full force. We predict that a surge in class action suits will follow.
Best-in-Class Responses
Monitor and take action to preserve privacy automatically.
Big ID Introduces Machine Learning-powered Tools
Satisfy privacy & compliance needs.
WHAT TO DO
PRIVACY: TREND 2
Increased Consumer Awareness of Privacy Preservation
When access to data is critical to your business, it’s vital that customers, partners and regulators trust you to protect their information. Companies that earn trust will enjoy deeper, longer-lasting customer relationships. Those who don’t face risks as customers increasingly question whether they should trust their providers with their data.
Our Prediction
Privacy Becomes a Differentiator
Consumer awareness will hit maturity with respect to data collection and use by corporations. Data privacy will become a key differentiator for any company leveraging sensitive stakeholder information.
WHAT TO DO
PRIVACY: TREND 3
Anonymous data – not a silver bullet for privacy
The world produces roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes of digital data per day, adding to a sea of information that includes intimate details about many individuals’ health and habits.
To protect privacy, data brokers must anonymize these records before sharing them with researchers and marketers. But new studies are finding that it’s often possible to re-identify a person from a supposedly anonymized dataset.
Georgian Impact Podcast
Episode 83: Understanding Differential Privacy with Chang Liu
“Incorporating differential privacy in software companies opens up a lot of opportunities — after adding a level of privacy and building trust with their customers, models can be shared between customers to boost the performance and value experienced by all consumers collectively."
Our Prediction
Privacy-Preserving Techniques Come to the Fore
Companies that implement privacy-preserving techniques, like differential privacy, will demonstrate privacy guarantees. Those privacy guarantees can then be used to build greater trust with customers.
WHAT TO DO
Privacy: Key Takeaways
During the design phase of your product, understand what data you truly need to be collecting, and ensure users understand what you will do with their information.
Businesses have the opportunity to differentiate on privacy by giving customers control and oversight over their data and by only collecting sensitive information if it’s critical to supporting the company’s value proposition. In summary, tech leaders should consider these important points in 2020:
Privacy Checklist
Privacy Regulations Take Full Effect
Increased Consumer Awareness of Privacy Preservation
Anonymous Data – Not a Silver Bullet for Privacy
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This post is part of our 2020 State of Trust Report. If you don't see a menu on the left of your screen, dive into the rest of the report here.