By Will Hayes, Lucidworks CEO
As technology advances, consumer expectations
continue to rise. We all expect a highly personal digital experience at every
touchpoint, from our worklife to our freetime, even if we don't understand
exactly how the technology behind it all works. Most people don't understand
why Instagram serves up that perfect gym membership ad, or how online stores
share perfect recommendations for an outfit for the wedding you're attending
three months from now in Mexico.
Companies across all industries are turning to
machine learning and AI to take signals like customer behavior to make
consumer expectations reality. When a site offers you the perfect product at
the exact moment you need it, it's great. But, it quickly gets creepy when you
hit the "Accept" pop-up button without fully realizing that your data is going
far beyond the page you're browsing.
And even scarier when you think that the
security of your entire digital, financial, and personal lives could be at
stake.
We've all breezed through those semi-sketchy
looking app downloads to access a free photo editing app or get the answers to
a very important personality quiz. Years ago, the data that was being collected
was minimal and didn't raise (too many) red flags for consumers. Now that the
technologies powering these digital experiences are developing so rapidly
(including data collection, image recognition, 5G, etc.) and becoming more
integrated with one another, consumers don't always know what they're
sacrificing in exchange for a more personal experience.
A study from FobrukerRadet revealed just how far your data goes.
For example, Grindr, a dating app, shared detailed user data including
Advertising ID, IP address, age, GPS location, and gender with a large number
of third parties. Many of the companies you don't even know about are in the business of collecting, using, and
selling location data for various commercial purposes. You probably didn't read
that fine print before downloading.
It's critical that people understand the
impact that this constant and unconscious privacy sharing could have.
Data
Control Versus Platform Access
As people become more educated on how
organizations are using their data, privacy will become a commodity. We'll have
the transparent choice to withhold our information or make it available to the
most trustworthy bidder, if the tradeoff is worth it. AI will have consumers
wielding their privacy as a commodity like never before, and future
infrastructure will have to support a new level of transparency.
Social media platforms like Facebook and
Instagram are a great case study for this struggle: wanting control of your
personal data versus having full access to a platform you rely on to stay in
touch. A survey from the Pew Research Centre, found that 69% of American adults use Facebook with more
than half visiting the site "several times a day." And over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. Many have
found the trade-off worth it.
Transparency
Is Key With Privacy as a Commodity
Complex user agreements won't survive for much
longer as the line between offline and online personas is blurred. I anticipate
control returning to the consumer, and a shift away from what's been a fast and
loose method of data collection.
As privacy laws become more strict and the
demand for transparency grows, data exchange could be attached to each
individual service we consume. I could share access to my photos to train a
company's facial recognition system in exchange for premium access to a
platform. And unlike a 20 page privacy agreement full of legalese, the exchange
would clearly list every bit of personal information the company is collecting,
how it will be used, and what third parties it can be shared with. This clear
exchange creates a value for our privacy which can be exchanged and eventually
normalized across applications.
Companies
Are Forced to Walk a Thin Line
Once companies realized the incredible worth
of personal user data, there was pressure to continue collecting it. Data
collection has become a sort of arms race where slowing down or taking your
foot off the gas could mean falling behind, or not meeting user expectations
because you haven't collected the necessary information on their behavior. Forbes contributor, Joe Toscano, calls this
type of data collection at all costs, "a race to the bottom."
Sidenote:
if the world was full of people with good intentions, we could spend more time
praising what this massive data collection has allowed: predicting the
likelihood and impact of catastrophic weather to prepare disaster teams,
improvements in healthcare including the ability to provide aid remotely,
detecting unusual activities that could signal credit card fraud, and more.
Unfortunately, not everyone has good intentions.
The tension we feel on a personal level is
being felt on a global scale. When more data means better AI to power better
experiences, companies (and governments) could be compelled to get more data
without any regulations. Some say that China is so far ahead in their data
collection, because of their state-run internet services, that they may have
the advantage in AI over the coming years.
Which leaves us asking: Do you have to trade
your private data for more convenience? Do you deregulate data collection if
the competitive advantage hangs in the balance? I'm of one mind with Toscano,
"Our work must remain focused on human rights and democratic processes if we
hope to win."
Choice
for Peace of Mind
Data collection, privacy, and the artificial
intelligence that powers a personal digital experience can successfully coexist. But things have to change. Consumers
can't make well-informed choices about what privacy they're willing to give up
without complete transparency about where their data is going and what it's
being used for. Choice is the main thing that's lacking in data collection
today. And it's likely that people will continue to opt-in to sharing their
data to have access to a beloved platform, or just to avoid spending time
reviewing a complicated document that explains what they're agreeing to.
The peace of mind that comes with full
transparency could even encourage people to share more of their personal information. That is, if the tradeoff is
worth it.
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About the Author
Will Hayes is the CEO of Lucidworks. He has over 20 years of
experience in Silicon Valley leading product, marketing, and business
development initiatives. Prior to Lucidworks he was head of technical business
development for Splunk, where he was responsible for defining the company's
market category and key product feature sets. Hayes also created and led the
company's global partner program, building an ecosystem of consultants,
developers, resellers, system integrators, service providers, and technology
partners to drive sales opportunities and increase partner profitability.
Earlier in his career, Hayes served as a software engineer at Genentech, where
he built solutions that supported the sales and drug development teams. He
currently lives with his family in San Francisco, California, where Lucidworks
is headquartered. Learn more at Lucidworks.com.