Expert: Strategies for increasing data transparency

The six month grace period for businesses to come into compliance with the CCPA are now over, but still some businesses are lagging behind in updating their data collection, storage, protection, and usage strategies. But, according to new Akamai data brand trust will online increase with more transparency in their data strategies and solutions.

by Kristina Knight

According to new data out from Akamai only about 5% of businesses have data policies already in effect that are secure enough to protect their customers' data. This is a problem as the US tries to come up with plans to be more proactive about how data is collected, stored and used.

"[There should] be standardization at the national level. While a simple answer it is what is truly needed. The patchwork of disparate laws and unclear definitions for some of the language means we can expect challenges to implementing effective programs to support and protect customers," said Steve Winterfield, Advisory CIO, Akamai.

The report further found that about half of businesses have given their customers access to their data, with just over half of consumers either asking for their data to be deleted or asking about the types of data collected about them. This, says Winterfield, is why brands need to have a policy in place and the transparency to share how they both collect and use customer data.

"I think the first step is for companies to thoroughly understand the data they have and what they do with it so that they can apply an ethical privacy framework to their activities. Many companies are turning to technologies/tools in order to automate the process," said Winterfield. "A common solution would be implementing a customer identity and access management (CIAM) that will integrate customer identities into a single source of truth. CCPA is just one of many different privacy regulations that companies need to comply with so they are looking for solutions that manage how customers are supported based on where they are."

From there, says Winterfield, businesses have to now get a policy in place for their employees. With more and more people working from home because of the pandemic, businesses need to be prepared - and so do employees - to protect data on different devices.

"As employees are largely remote and more customers are moving to online interactions with companies the edge is becoming more important. Protecting access to the online resources and making sure that the interactions are secure is becoming increasingly critical. Providing customers more control builds trust and if done correctly can still provide enough data to ensure the interaction is positive and frictionless," said Winterfield.

Tags: advertising, advertising data, advertising tips, Akamai, data strategy