Data privacy: Make it your core business value
Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen, Rita McGrath predicted that Facebook's flawed business model, which gathers data willingly exchanged by users for using the platform for free, could face backlash.
Most people don't know that logging on to the internet creates a digital footprint on their online behaviour. While users are dimly aware that websites track them using cookies, many are unaware of third-party cookies.
For instance, if you log on to a news site with a Facebook 'like' button on it, a cookie will send Facebook information about your web activity.
Last month, India passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023. Regulators now have more muscle to rein in data mongers.
But business practices will continue to evolve quickly to find new ways to access data.
But isn't there a competitive advantage in respecting data privacy? Would that not be a business differentiator and make a brand statement? How many customers can a business win by managing customer privacy well, or how many can they lose due to a lax privacy policy?
Apple, for instance, introduced App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a code that all developers who want to sell in iOS must use, in 2021. As it turned out, only 16% gave Facebook or other apps permission to track them.
Consequently, Facebook and Instagram ads found it difficult to find receptive eyes, and businesses ended up with lower ROI on ad spending. Meta's ad revenue growth began declining the same quarter Apple implemented ATT.
Unlike the developed world, developing countries have responded to privacy concerns slowly.
India's new data Bill is the right first step in this direction, although it needs more teeth. The issue is complex,
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