India Outbound: June 2018

My first memory about personalized recommendation goes back to the year 2005. I still remember that article about Jeff Bezos, his vision for Amazon that also listed how Procter & Gamble and other FMCG players were considering personalized ads, billboards and online advertising. Fast forward to 2018 and we’ve come a long way with personalization, but at what price?

Over the last fortnight, I’ve followed discussions about a database with 10 million mobile numbers being available for download, an app positioned as a WhatsApp rival – with serious security flaws, and the endless articles on GDPR. The first two discussions were from India, while the third one from EU – gives me hope about the future of my personal data.

First, let’s look at the EU General Data Protection Rights (GDPR), that went live on May 25th this year: GDPR gives the user control of their own data, an explicit opt-in, clear guidance on data storage, and hefty penalties for non-compliance. Companies were making last minute, panic calls to understand the implications of GDPR and to comply with it. Let’s read that again:

The panic calls were made to comply with GDPR.

And there lies the fundamental flaw in our personalization journey and the way companies treat user data. Somewhere down the process, businesses and leaders have forgotten that the consumer, the person who’s not just a data in some row in an excel sheet is a real person.

We see stronger urgency in both startups and corporates to enter into new markets and build a border less global economy that is enabled by data.

The big data world can solve problems in ways that weren’t thought possible earlier. GDPR compliance will help in extending the reach, create strong connections with consumers, and in building trusted products and services. Digital commerce critically hinges upon data protection and these transparent policies will enable companies to protect and secure personal data, thus integrating themselves better within the global economy.

If data is the new oil, let’s also remember that oil has resulted in wars

The privacy concerns because of web personalization are real. The misuse of personal data with identifiable content like address, personal information and family information is a threat that’s looming upon us every day. India must immediately take a leaf out of the EU GDPR regulation and recognize the importance of user data. The recent white paper on the Data Protection framework for India has the right objective i.e. to ensure the growth of the digital economy while keeping personal data of citizens secure and protected.

But to protect 1.2 billion citizens’ data and to become a superpower in this digitalization transformation, here’s my wish list for the Indian data framework, building on EU regulation:

Explicit opt-in for communication: Make it mandatory for businesses to get clear and explicit opt-in from consumers in a simple language. Every use case must be explained and explicit consent taken.
Traceability for tele-marketing and mobile messaging: The source of the data and why a user is contacted must be clearly mentioned and must be traceable.
The right to be forgotten and deleted: Consumers must have a right to be forgotten and their personal data to be deleted from all databases.
Data security and how it gets stored: Data breaches cannot and should be prevented by taking stricter measures.
Simplify customer journey: Somewhere down the personalization journey, businesses have made the customer journey complex. In this app first world, they collect way too much information that has increased security risk.
Cookies: The one consent that chases all of us on the web, but no one explains the actual purpose. This must be made simpler and clearer.
Hefty penalties: Non-compliance must be penalized with stricter and heftier penalties.

The year of 2018, with GDPR has the potential to inspire a world-wide change. Will the world wide web finally achieve the objective that it set out to achieve? Can India give the data control back to the citizens in this race to personalization and growth?

source https://www.indiaoutbound.org/india-the-person-in-personalization-is-me/

India Outbound

Friday, June 29, 2018

Living in a digital word via #IndiaOutbound https://t.co/vQFdByPi2N

India: The person in ’person’alization is me!

Thursday, June 28, 2018

thanks for the retweet https://t.co/tqbgLqPpCN

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

check this - a few words from our editor in chief - https://t.co/8EHXV6Xlfx