Emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, and machine learning are changing what is knowable about customers. At the same time, the frequency of data misuse is leading government entities and individuals to demand higher standards of accountability.
In her presentation titled, “Ethics, Data Ownership, & Privacy in Data Science” at Data Summit 2019, Anne Buff, director of data governance explored the issues around modernizing security and governance, as well as what it means to deliver transparency and what users actually expect.
When it comes to data privacy CEO’s want to keep their companies out of the headlines, Buff explained, while consumers are concerned with the misuse of their data and data theft.
There are four drivers behind consumers concern over their data privacy. This includes:
From 2016 to 2017 the number of records exposed in privacy breaches increased from 37 million to 179 million, according to Buff.
When it comes to GDPR, data privacy standards in Europe, US consumers are paying attention. According to a survey conducted by SAS, 67% believe the US Government should do more to regulate data privacy.
The issue here with implementing data science practices in tandem with data governance is efficiency and effectiveness, columns, tables and rows, and context of use.
While companies may hesitate to implement more data governance strategies, data governance provides the following benefits:
- Delegates responsibility and enforces accountability
- Fosters collaboration
- Protects, enables, supports, and defends employees, consumers, stakeholders, and the business
- Allows for openness, flexibility, and extensibility
- Pushes data decisions to the lowest level of autonomy possible
“Data governance provides the rigor to answer everything consumers are concerned about,” Buff said.
Buff has made her presentation available for review at https://www.dbta.com/DataSummit/2019/Presentations.aspx.