Data privacy has been a hot button topic for several years now, and, to no one’s surprise, has become a can’t-be-missed focal point during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. While the industry is busy churning out self-driving cars, coffee-making robots, and other futuristic devices, one can’t help but wonder why the topic of privacy seems like a forced afterthought to many of these new gadgets and gizmos. CES has long been about the cool factor, but what are we expecting consumers to risk in exchange for coolness and convenience?
CES labeled privacy a “strategic imperative” with its own dedicated roundtable where Apple, Facebook and P&G faced tough questions from FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. Gartner last spring reported that only four in 10 privacy execs are confident about adapting to new, imminent regulations. If we’re all taking privacy so seriously — and we’ve had years to improve — shouldn’t that figure be higher? Is the industry taking customer privacy concerns seriously enough?
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of really cool products at CES that piqued my interest: personalized, state-of-the-art smart gyms, solutions for the disabled, smarter home security solutions. But I found myself looking at most of the show’s unveilings with a level of nervousness about how much they’re asking from me as the consumer. How much personal data do I have to provide in order to make these things work as intended? The answers range from fairly little (although I can’t say the market for toilet paper-delivering bots will explode but who knows) to downright Black Mirror-esque (Neon’s ‘artificial human’). The point is, tech is struggling to find the balance between providing value that doesn’t require gathering intimate levels of personal data. And, in a race to become the coolest, most convenient gadget, we’re side-stepping privacy only to circle-back later to jam it in as a talking point somewhere, somehow. This approach is not only backwards, it’s dangerous.
The risk falls almost completely on consumers. You’d have to be living under a rock not to see how it’s already played out across so many scenarios that are increasingly damaging to the very people we’re trying to connect with and sell to. Banks, social media networks, healthcare organizations, tech giants — no institution or industry is immune to data compromises. Tech simply cannot overlook privacy as a corporate message because it’d be a glaringly obvious and irresponsible oversight.
Aside from the optics of failing to push a privacy message, there are very legitimate reasons why doing so is corporate suicide. My company’s recent poll of 5,000 global consumers reported people love their voice assistants and use them often — 45% of the population are regular users — but 51% are worried that they’re being listened to without their consent. Tech has morphed into an industry that’s consumed with meeting hyper-personalized consumer wants and needs and rightfully so, these new markets are booming, but they’re overlooking the fact that 74% of people value privacy over experience. We’re now at a crossroads where we have to ask ourselves, “can you have one without the other?” How do we deliver a personalized experience without tracking consumers’ every move?
Organizations need to have serious, honest conversations that re-evaluate the need and use for data it collects and stores. For many, consumers’ personal details are the very crux of success, but understanding how much is too much is critical. We need to ask ourselves: Do data strategies and a mission to be customer-first align, and how? How transparent are we with our customers and is it enough? Are we doing what we can to do right by the people who are entrusting us with their information?
I don’t have the answers, but as a consumer, I do have to consider how privacy affects me personally and use that to propel conversations I’m having. To be a responsible tech leader, I have to make privacy a central part of every conversation, including talking to customers about how their communications and data strategies have to change. This isn’t about driving their revenue and it’s not even really about privacy itself. It’s about doing the right thing.