Companies must put cybersecurity and privacy at the forefront of business strategy to win customers’ hearts—and earn their trust. And they must implement, meet, and clearly communicate robust data governance and privacy protection policies.

In response to Efim Gavrilenko

Consumers are willing to forgive, but their trust can only be regained if companies implement real changes in the wake of a breach.  Although no one action will win back every customer, some measures are more likely to resonate with consumers—including compensation for victims, a detailed explanation of what happened, and a clear description of the privacy policies in place.

Consumers want businesses to be responsive, transparent, and take steps to ensure a breach does not happen again.

Consumers are willing to forgive, but their trust can only be regained if companies implement real changes in the wake of a breach.  Although no one action will win back every customer, some measures are more likely to resonate with consumers—including compensation for victims, a detailed explanation of what happened, and a clear description of the privacy policies in place.

Consumers are willing to forgive, but their trust can only be regained if companies implement real changes in the wake of a breach.  Although no one action will win back every customer, some measures are more likely to resonate with consumers—including compensation for victims, a detailed explanation of what happened, and a clear description of the privacy policies in place.

In PwC’s20th Global CEO Survey, 69% of CEOs said it is becoming much more difficult for businesses to earn and keep trust in a digital world.  Banks and hospitals tie as most trusted when it comes to privacy and cybersecurity, outranking healthcare providers, nonprofits, and online retailers.  Social media companies, advertising agencies and startups are less trusted than firms in other sectors and need to be proactive in maintaining consumer trust.

In response to Jamyang Khachaturyan

Can businesses be trusted to secure their customers’ personal information? Consumers don’t think so.  Just 25% of respondents believe most companies handle their sensitive personal data responsibly. Even fewer—only 15%—think companies will use that data to improve their lives.

If your customers don’t trust you to protect their sensitive data and use it responsibly, you’ll get nowhere in your efforts to harness the value of that data to offer customers a better experience.

Can businesses be trusted to secure their customers’ personal information? Consumers don’t think so.  Just 25% of respondents believe most companies handle their sensitive personal data responsibly. Even fewer—only 15%—think companies will use that data to improve their lives.

In response to Mariana Lichtenberg

Privacy is not simply an absence of information about us in the minds of others; rather it is the control we have over information about ourselves. Nevertheless, in the era of big data, control over information is under pressure.  Would you agree or disagree?

You are 100% correct, very well said.

Information is key to everything nowadays and the fact that we have to blindly trust somebody to not overstep is very scary to me.

Most Web users want to understand that personal information they share will not be shared with anyone else without their permission. An annual survey conducted by the Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center of the Georgia Institute of Technology showed that 70% of the Web users surveyed cited concerns about privacy as the main reason for not registering information with Web sites. 86% indicated that they wanted to be able to control their personal information.

Social Media can hamper privacy.  It has been witnessed that people become more public and open about their personal lives on social networks which really hampers their privacy. Photos uploaded may be misused. So this is a major cause of concern.

The explosion in information technology has driven privacy and cybersecurity issues to the forefront of legal developments affecting every business. Unprecedented levels of connectivity, and increasingly disruptive cyber attacks on government and private networks, are fueling new privacy and data security policies that present challenges for any business that collects, utilizes, or distributes information about individuals, whether consumers, employees or otherwise, or has sensitive government or other proprietary or commercial information on its information systems.

In response to Mariana Lichtenberg

Privacy is not simply an absence of information about us in the minds of others; rather it is the control we have over information about ourselves. Nevertheless, in the era of big data, control over information is under pressure.  Would you agree or disagree?

Absolutely agreed. Control over our personal information is not well developed, as more and more things are connecting to IoT. Regulations must be established very soon, because some severe consequences will be happening for some of us - the more we use them, the more vulnerable we are. In todays life, it is inevitable to be connected to the worldwide web.

Privacy is not simply an absence of information about us in the minds of others; rather it is the control we have over information about ourselves. Nevertheless, in the era of big data, control over information is under pressure.  Would you agree or disagree?

Even though the practices of many companies such as Facebook are legal, there is something disconcerting about them. Privacy should have a deeper purpose than the one ascribed to it by those who treat it as a currency to be traded for innovation, which in many circumstances seems to actually mean corporate interests. To protect our privacy, we need a better understanding of its purpose and why it is valuable.

In response to Edward Wachter

Here is an interesting quote by Benjamin Franklin that addresses the value of privacy: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Edward,

Here is another one by Stephen King: "Friends don’t spy; true friendship is about privacy, too."

In response to Guido Romeo

I wonder how this goes together with the idea put forward by Rob Krankenburg that we should stop talking about privacy and refer to "privacies" as many different and diverse levels of protection is granted/allowed. Would be interesting to see these experts discussing it together.

 

 

Privacy protects us from being misdefined and judged out of context in a world of short attention spans, a world in which information can easily be confused with knowledge.

In response to future hacker

As we are learning, the danger of data collection by online companies is not that they will use it to try to sell you stuff. The danger is that that information can so easily fall into the hands of parties whose motives are much less benign. A government, for example. 

I trust the government.  How about you?

As we are learning, the danger of data collection by online companies is not that they will use it to try to sell you stuff. The danger is that that information can so easily fall into the hands of parties whose motives are much less benign. A government, for example. 

Personal data is essential to so many decisions made about us, from whether we get a loan, a license or a job to our personal and professional reputations. Personal data is used to determine whether we are investigated by the government, or searched at the airport, or denied the ability to fly. Indeed, personal data affects nearly everything, including what messages and content we see on the Internet. Without having knowledge of what data is being used, how it is being used, the ability to correct and amend it, we are virtually helpless in today’s world. 

Here is an interesting quote by Benjamin Franklin that addresses the value of privacy: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Vincent,

When I was in the US I learned that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is in charge of protecting consumers in the US.  The agency uses law enforcement, policy initiatives, and consumer and business education to protect consumers’ personal information and ensure that they have the confidence to take advantage of the many benefits of the ever-changing marketplace.

Privacy is so misunderstood, due to all this innovations in the tech world. Now, it is not just about our name, address or phone number, it is all about the data that is collected throughout our conversations with other people, collaborating with some AI or so. Sadly, this could be used against us in the future.

I am really interested  in privacy, but I think is very hard to regulate it correctly.

Sometimes I don't want to leave any tracks of me on the internet, sometimes I want to be helped i finding what I am looking for like, for example, when I am buying something that I am not expert in I strongly relay on suggestion engine.

Intelligence is the key: we, the users, must use intelligence when revealing information about ourself

They put in place this GDPR thing and you should read 20 pages each time you enter a new website. But then, when I go in another country, no one asks me the permission to track my phone, record my face in surveillance cameras and so on.

This privacy is much more about tracking you that guarantee your freedom.

It seems to me privacy is all about the dynamics between individuals, the market, and the state.  Here is another interesting discussion on how the word can be defined and the fact that it really all depends on who you ask: What is Privacy.

I wonder how this goes together with the idea put forward by Rob Krankenburg that we should stop talking about privacy and refer to "privacies" as many different and diverse levels of protection is granted/allowed. Would be interesting to see these experts discussing it together.

In the US they have laws dealing with sectors rather than data in general.  I am curious to find out who the European Union will decide should be responsible for protecting my data in the EU.

They say, “whenever you are not paying for service you are the product”.  That still holds true in the world of IT where we pay a pretty penny for things such as phones, tablets, and broadband connections.  It sounds odd but it is a fact.

It seems companies collect more data than I am willingly providing.  Is that true and do I have any say in how they use my data?

Very interesting example with Donald Trump’s Muslim database and the experiment carried out by Amnesty International.  Thank you for sharing it with us.