GDPR and data: setting a course for customer trust
With the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the collection and use of personal data will be harmonised and regulated in European Union countries. Objective: to restore the trust of individuals in the processing of their data. This renewed trust is a real business issue for companies on the way to “GDPR compliance”.
No viable digital economy exists without trust. However, 72% of Europeans fear the improper use of personal data, quotes Viviane Reding, ex-European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. In the face of these two findings, the European Union is responding with these four letters: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The European regulation for protecting personal data, which is planned to come into effect on 25 May 2018, highlights notions of transparency with regard to the person concerned in the use of his/her data, from its collection to its processing and archiving, up to its deletion.
Precisely on the collection side, the obtaining of the customer’s consent, with the FrenchLoi Informatique et Libertés(data protection law), was intended to be clearly identified with CNIL (Commission nationale Libertés et Informatique– French data protection commission) notice templates. However, has anyone received an update of these notices at any time? The GDPR will make this update mandatory for any new use. For example, if an individual takes out car insurance with an insurer, they will sign consent to the use of their data through their policy (identity, contact details and driving licence). If tomorrow that same insurer offers to install a good driving tracker in that person’s vehicle, it must have its customer sign new CNIL notices to consent to this new perk for the use of his/her data, such as statistical analyses which can help him/her in his/her driving.
For the company, this is a means of standing out from the competition and communicating about its good practice. By developing customer trust – through, for example, a charter or communication on undertakings in this area, or even the building of a label within a business sector – companies will improve their image and will position themselves as agents of trust. A decisive element in business development which meets a strong expectation of the individuals.
