Building Consumer Trust

We are currently living in an age of data. Whether you refer to this as the “Information Age” or the “Digital Age,” the concept is still largely the same: Information, in many ways, is currency. Big Data companies routinely analyze personal details as a method of continually improving the marketing efforts of clients. In turn, consumers benefit from targeted marketing campaigns that anticipate and meet their needs.

Unfortunately, the continual flow and exchange of data has left personally identifiable details vulnerable to those with nefarious intentions. Recent large-scale security hacks and breaches have caused customers to lose trust in corporations and institutions. To win that trust back, companies must assume certain critical responsibilities.

Rebuilding Public Confidence

The only way that organizations can renew public trust is by truly securing personal details. Once this has been accomplished, the same companies must ensure that their customers know their data is secure. How can this be done in such a way that benefits consumers, without destroying the foundation from which modern marketing campaigns have been constructed?

The following are some of the steps that private and public institutions must take to reassure the public that their data is safe:

• Compliance: One of the top actions that any company might take is to enforce legal compliance at every level. Canadian organizations, for example, must adhere to the regulations put in place by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (generally referred to as the acronyms “PIPEDA” or the “PIPED Act). Even for those groups to which such laws do not apply, such as various charitable and non-profit groups, remaining compliant with the guidelines when possible is still a best practice.
• Transparency: When data security breaches occur, companies must be honest and come forward with that information. By remaining truthful in such situations, businesses and other groups have a chance to retain the trust of those affected, even as they work to repair the damage. Most individuals are not labouring under the misapprehension that all informational leaks can be prevented 100 percent of the time. However, people want to know that every effort is being made to protect their personal details.
• Better Choices: Although it may not be currently possible to entirely prevent information from being compromised, major technological advances have been made. Companies must utilize platforms that secure sensitive data as much as possible. They must also ensure that data security is viewed as a top priority by all who work within their systems.

Leveraging Platforms such as Cornerstone®

One of the leading security platforms today is Cornerstone®. Cornerstone offers a robust access control framework that organizations can use to securely store data. The platform’s tokenization capabilities help lock down data upon ingestion, whether from batch or streaming sources, in order to minimize the risk of breaches. By taking a proactive approach to the issue of compromised information, organizations can protect sensitive details, reduce the opportunity for fraudulent activity, and restore consumer trust as a whole.

Whether your company is concerned with maintaining or rebuilding the confidence of your customers, Next Pathway can help. Please feel free to contact us for more information.