The Stakes and Challenges
27
The issues of personal data and privacy protection are often raised
when the commercial exploitation of data is brought up. However,
ethical issues are not so much linked to privacy concerns – which is a
legal notion – but to the respect of personal space. The protection of
personal data (a technical protection, i.e. supervision and security) is
not enough to show respect for the client as an individual and gain their
trust. Their personal space also needs to be protected, which means
taking into account the client as a whole person, and treating them
as such, not as a product. Currently, companies do not do enough to
protect individuals from intrusion into personal space.
Similarly with Big Data, the ability to collect data that we didn’t know
how to until recently (for example position determination technology),
and then the ability to cross this data with other information (how
much a client desires a product, for example) are favouring commercial
innovation and personalisation. In parallel, the possibility of processing
large amounts of high quality, multi-format data, quickly and cheaply,
is opening up the way to other possibilities.
Since nowadays, this data can be acquired from anywhere, virtually
without the knowledge of those concerned, the stakes concerning the
protection of individual freedoms have become crucial. As such, what
lines cannot be crossed to keep the trust of clients? The general climate
is one of distrust, and according to many recent studies
(
Orange IDATE), over three quarters of clients have little
or no trust in the businesses and suppliers that process
and manage their personal data.
There is a long way to go yet in this domain!
General climate
of distrust
