As technology has rapidly expanded and evolved to its present-day iteration, its own unique challenges have surfaced as well; issues like data ethics and data privacy have cultivated the modern technological landscape, as assaults to those ideals have become wildly relevant to the everyday tech user’s digital identity.
DBTA recently held a webinar sponsored by OneTrust titled, “Re-Thinking Trusted Data,” featuring speaker Phil Donaus, solutions engineer of privacy and data governance with OneTrust, to remind tech workers that trust is one of the most valuable assets. As customer trust in your brand increases, so too will your brand grow and differentiate itself from its competitors—improving overall enterprise success.
According to Donaus, trust is driving the next decade of growth and differentiation. Digital environments no longer feel innately safe for users, as personal data ethics and privacy have integrated with modern digital identity. Concerns for violations of a fundamental human right—the right to privacy—is a critical aspect of today’s technological world.
In response, enterprises must leverage the value of trust to drive the brand’s growth, appealing to the modern user’s concern for their privacy. According to an Edelman report, brand trust shows remarkable impacts towards enterprise-customer relations; 70% of consumers say trusting a brand is more important today than in the past, while 61% of those respondents were prepared to advocate for their trusted brand; further, 57% of those respondents were prepared to purchase a new product or service from their trusted brand, and 31% would give personal information or participate in brand events. Donaus made it clear that trust proves to be an abundant business opportunity that can provide avenues towards enterprise growth and success, while simultaneously acknowledging and respecting users’ right to privacy.
Throwing around the term ‘trust’ and seeing its statistical rewards is all well and good, but how do you actually build that particular relationship between brand and customer? Donaus pointed toward a few critical tenants an enterprise should consistently maintain—transparency, consent, and employing real-time information.
Transparency is a key component to the system of trust, as increasing visibility assures users that their data is not being unethically leveraged or sold. Users want to know what’s happening with their data; building systems that are embedded with visibility at every touchpoint satisfies those wishes. With data capture technology that constantly collects data points of a user, that individual should be able to access what data is being collected by which brand, at any time. This transparency further encourages customers to share their data, armed with the knowledge of what is being done with it.
Donaus argued that in conjunction with transparency, consent is crucial in accommodating users’ concern for privacy. An individual should be able to consent to which data they’d like to be shared with a brand and be able to rescind that consent at any point. Users should have the ability to make individual choices and preferences, and have it be immediately reflected within systems associated with that particular company. Consent colors a brand with care for user needs and rights, thus encouraging their participation and long-time involvement with the business.
This is where real-time information and systems enters the arena of trust; amid massive quantities of data being constantly transmitted between systems, enterprises require a real-time view of those interactions to ensure compliance. Automated data discovery and classification, which alert teams to any changes, alleviate that pressure of ensuring compliance and further employ consistent regulation. Real-time information is similarly important to the end-user; once preferences in data sharing are changed by a customer, systems should be able to instantaneously accommodate. Trust is then formulated through accurate and reliable operations that regularly update with current data sharing preferences, as well as through continuous compliance assurance of enterprise systems.
Ultimately, users are more conscious than ever about what personal data is being collected and by whom. In order to achieve success in this modern landscape, enterprises must respond and adapt to the user’s needs—and fundamental human rights. Following Donaus’ musings on building trust as conducive to growth, enterprises must develop dependable, transparent, and consensual data sharing practices to aggregate and retain loyal customers.
You can view an archived version of this webinar here.