Rapid developments in technology are changing the world and having a dramatic impact on the way we live, work, communicate and interact and do business. The government and the private sector should, therefore, be setting out an ambitious journey toward achieving a digital economy, highlighting the role of information and communications technology as a key enabler in social, economic and environmentally sustainable growth and development.
Part of big data analysis is the development of key strategies for digital marketing:
- Connect the dots between online and offline channels and build fluid customer experience with no breaches.
- Put mobile at the center of your communications; mobile is building the culture of m-commerce anywhere.
- Search for a need beyond “always on,” adding category and lifestyle to the search to connect with fans and not just buyers.
- Constantly listen to the social buzz, and respond to negative comments.
- Be part of the conversation, generate content that builds “earned media” and tells the brand story.
- Understand your digital micro-segmentation; unlike TV, digital targeting can be as precise as a single person.
- Amplify the voice of your advocates, these are your most influential and powerful assets—so use them.
- Always be adaptable, measure everything and act in real time.
But, the digital wave needs data protection. While the Philippines passed the data privacy law two years ago but failed to implement it, different branches of the European Union (EU) have agreed on the shape of the EU’s new data privacy law, which means it is likely to be passed early in 2016 and is fully enacted within two years. This is not one of the arcane legal documents that have little effect on people’s everyday lives. The new rules will drastically change how companies use people’s data and reshape data-based businesses such as advertising and online retail.
The idea of the new regulation is to establish the same data privacy rules across the EU—something the European Commission says will result in savings of €2.3 billion a year for businesses—but also to hand to users full control of their personal data, which the EU defines broadly as “any information relating to a data subject,” or natural person. This means companies will have to explain exactly for what information they are collecting, for what purposes and how long it will be retained.
They will be forced to disclose all collected information to the user; companies will also have to erase data at the users’ request if they have No legitimate reason for keeping it—an extension of the difficult-to-enforce “right to be forgotten.”
Perhaps, more important, companies will have to comply with the principles of “privacy by design” and “privacy by default,” meaning the default settings of any service must ensure that as few data as possible are collected and retained. How this will work exactly are left to the European Commission to spell out, but the very principles involved mean that tech firms will have to rethink their interaction with customers and perhaps their entire business models. Otherwise, they will face fines of up to 4 percent of their global sales.
US Internet giants will need to make adjustments if they want to keep operating in Europe. Google and Facebook might be forced to give their users the right to opt out of data collection for advertising purposes. That goes beyond all the changes the companies made to their privacy policies in recent years; it also alters the premise on which these businesses are based. Google and Facebook, among other companies which targeted advertising as the source of nearly all revenues, will have to make do with whatever they collect from the 42 percent of users who don’t mind providing their data for the purpose.
Treating data about a person as that person’s property is likely to complicate the work of journalists who are after data, say, on corrupt officials’ offshore companies and properties. Under the current draft of the EU regulation, it will be possible to withhold the data at least temporarily, while the company evaluates the “owner’s” to have it erased. With the threat of big fines hanging over them for withholding the right to be forgotten, Internet firms will be tempted to err on the side of caution.
Once the new regulations are approved, tech companies will probably use their significant lobbying power to make specific rules, to be set by the European Commission, more lenient and less disruptive to their businesses. The less success they have the better, not just for Europeans but for all Internet users.
In this context it is just not acceptable that the Data Privacy Act in the Philippines remains unimplemented. That’s bad for business, that’s bad for investors, that’s bad for companies around the world that are considering the Philippines as a BPM/KPM location.