After Cambridge Analytica, there is nowhere to hide
With Facebook and Cambridge Analytica embroiled in the ongoing data scandal, Craig Young, president of AMSRO, looks at privacy protection, and how brands can ensure they don’t fall foul of consumers.
Compliance on privacy and the potential for a data breach is one of the single biggest risks facing organisations in 2018. That risk is multiplying every day as consumers demand greater
protection and regulators adopt an increasingly hardline approach.
The reputational and commercial risks of being identified as an untrustworthy data host are profound, yet what is now at stake is not truly appreciated by most organisations. The Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal has dominated coverage in recent weeks and has seen $US100 billion wiped from Facebook’s value in the wake of the FTC investigation.
Consumers have now had their eyes prised wide open to what actually happens with their personal information, so the longer-term reputational damage for Facebook is potentially
even higher. Not to mention the regulatory pressure.
Access to data and the ability to profile individuals in extraordinary detail has seen many organisations become too liberal and unethical in the way they use the data. Trust has been abused as expedient commercial and political use of data has been put ahead of what consumers believe is fair and right. It’s completely justifiable for people to ask where is the informed consent?
