With numbers of companies trying to achieve consumer mastery, the use of technology in monitoring consumer needs is the top method to attain critical consumer information. When the world is moving to the smaller screens on mobile phones to fulfil their consumer needs, 52% of the worldwide internet traffic was reported to be generated from these smart phones in 2019.
And this technology has made it easier for big companies to track data of the user. Big companies like Google keep curating data from users’ android devices in the form of their online activity, search preference and pattern (when a user is logged in their Gmail Account) and use this data to display targeted ads towards the user. It is no more an unusual phenomenon where a smart phone application asks for access to the user’s mobile phone data in order to allow its operation. Business giants like Amazon, Flipkart and eBay require access permissions to be approved in order to enable certain important application functions.
While certain permissions require access to perform important functions like that of barcode payment, the increase in number of data collected by the businesses is making users’ concern about their privacy. User details including their contact book, location, travel details, one-time passcodes have taken the act of data collection to become a concerning matter. The corporates now have access to private details like the restaurant a user went to in the past weekend. Such data is argued to help business in generating more opportunity for their enterprise which allows them to generate better, personalised products for the target market.
Though the process creates a personalized approach towards the consumer, the consumers refrain from their privacy getting violated. Rather, in 2020 they encourage products and companies nurturing the sanctity of user privacy. According to a survey conducted by McKinsey, consumers are becoming intentional on what kind of data they share and to whom. The same is not just relevant with businesses, but also for governmental applications. In the rise of COVID-19 in India, the Aarogya Setu App introduced by the Government of India to track the movement of infected citizens faced heat and rejection from both consumers and experts, banishing the clause 6(b) of the applications’ policy which stated that the developer shall not be liable in case of data breach.
Previous Facebook data leaks and current day increase in current data vulnerability has put users into a state of alertness. Hence, the consumers now demand for what can be called Private Personalisation, where companies continue to serve the customers in a personalised manner yet keeping consumer privacy intact. For the purpose of the same, in December 2019 the Government of India proposed the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in the Parliament which awaits to still become a law.
Irrespective of when the desired outcomes can be seen from the Bill, companies now need to gear up for a more nuanced approach at targeting customers. Data sanctity is not just a concern of consumers of the day, but also for societies of the future. A solid bill would establish walls of protection for the consumers, but a strong business system of respecting consumer privacy is requirement for the companies to avoid a possible backlash. As we move towards the future, where connections become fluid and hard to trace, where data moves freely and openly, strict rules need to be formulated and followed by the companies to benefit from Private Personalisation. “Consumer is the king” as they say, there needs to be more autonomy for the king in deciding a companies role in their privacy, right now.