It is true, where there is smoke, there is fire. The technology field and especially the customer data collection has been on fire for a long period.
The Social Dilemma, an American Netflix docudrama film, which aired recently, brings up the customer data issue. Public concern is rapidly increasing, concerning the usage and possible misuse of today’s technology capabilities, meaning the collection, process, analysis, and digital data share. This concern refers more to the Western world, where the social networking platforms are finally taking strict measures to protect public speech from extreme, often anti-democratic rhetoric, lies and slander.
In the meantime, and while the term “fake news” is still under the examination of the Oxford Dictionary editors, the addition to “deepfake news” showed up to make us not believe to our own eyes, since a fake video creation with protagonist whoever says what the “director” wants, is possible even with home amateur technology equipment.
On the other hand, denouncing the digital data analysis provides fertile ground for anyone who wants to raise a fiery, heretical speech, usually using tools that at the same time denounce. The demonization of technology and the changes it brings, sometimes at a rapid pace, is not something new. Except that never before has the imprint – digital nowadays – been so intense and easily reproduced.
After all, is it all the data and the increased possibilities that we have today for their better utilization, fault? Who can ignore the value of (mostly still unexploited today in many countries) open data? Does the offline life exist and, if so, who is willing to give up countless facilities and tools to live as a “digital hermit”? Will we say “stop” to the automation of automobiles and transport in general, denying vehicles’ networking and non-stop data exchange at ultra-high speeds? The answer to this question is probably not.
And as always, the truth is usually in between. It is not the fault of the data, which is there anyway, is produced and will continue to be produced in every manifestation of human activity. Nor, obviously, digital technology, which today enables us to face unprecedented challenges. It all has to do with the usage. The correct use of each tool, the rules that surround it and respect for them, by all involved.
That is the reason why, at Qivos, every time we design a new loyalty program on behalf of one of our clients, in Greece or abroad, we reassure that the customer data management rules are transparent, clear, and compliant with international regulations. This has been achieved through a specific methodology, which has been developed over the years.
Recall that the implementation of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the protection of natural persons, which has been a public concern three years ago and soon after was not on the forefront, gave answers, and regulate a market that grew in a short time. This has inevitably brought side effects. The appropriate use of data has no dark spots, nor shadows. Their transparent exploitation offers unimaginable opportunities and gives a significant competitive advantage to companies and institutions, for the benefit of the economy and social development.
Zacharias Lalaounis, Qivos’ CCOO & DPO
