All You Need To Know About Data Privacy

It is believed that the universe is made of atoms but given the digital wave orbiting our planet; one can vouch that the universe is made of data.

 

An integral asset, an uncompromised entity – Data Privacy would now garner more eyeballs than ever. As we dive deeper into the complexities revolved around it, let’s first understand data privacy in its entirety. Simply put, just like you rent lockers in banks to secure your valuables, data privacy allows you to lock your personal data. Data privacy enables you to protect your data by focusing on how to manage, store and share it with third parties thereby aligning with the laws and regulations of different countries and governing bodies.

 

What Makes Data Protection So Crucial

 

Needless to say that being part of a social community where sharing data is a common practice, safeguarding data gains utmost importance. While the responsible use of data can be a game-changer in driving brands, businesses, countries even. Its misuse, however, could lead to irreparable consequences and permanent damage to a brand’s goodwill. Data breaching, as is called, can hamper the secured information of an organization, government, and individual; by putting it for the wrong use. We all know that Data is sensitive yet 36 billion records were exposed owing to data breaches in just the first half of 2020 This has enabled many brands and platforms to consume data and ensure data security and privacy remain the utmost priority for the consumer.

 

Going by the last two years’ facts and figures, when the digital footprint of mankind increased to its maximum, data is spreading far and wide. On an average day, we are exposed to so many adverts, e-mailers, and direct messages that we have lost count of the exact number. Data has become the quintessential commodity in every brand’s strategy. In fact, Capillary’s last webinar on the data-driven approach to customer engagement would have you center on one key question – We all know that data is the answer. But are customers willing to share it? If yes, how much data should ideally be shared? Before we proceed, here are some startling facts from the webinar to keep you hooked:

 

 

These statistics definitely echo people’s sentiments. There is no right answer to how much data we should share as that boils down to everyone’s own discretion. In a marketing arena where the customer is the king, their right to understand how their data is being utilized gains precedence. Given the norms, organizations now need to culturally change their pre-defined marketing practices and marketers must ensure transparency as part of their data strategies. But for marketers, there is definitely more to dive into when it comes to how to protect the data that enables strategic business decisions to drive brand revenue growth and overall goodwill. Thus, a marketer’s role in data privacy is more crucial because if they falter, they risk the brand image.

 

Data Privacy: A Look at the Global Picture

 

 

The above timeline illustrates the dire need to guard data – personal or professional with authentic norms. No wonder, it’s important for every individual, brand, organization to be compliant in this aspect. In fact, organizations that stay compliant with data protection have a competitive advantage over other players in the industry. For instance, when Apple Inc. stated that privacy is a human right, their customer advocacy swelled up. With the right set of data protection strategies in place, companies can gain the trust and advocacy of their customers, stakeholders, and clients.

 

Our Approach: Data Privacy at Capillary

 

At Capillary, our teams deal with innumerable large data sets for different clients. Data sets that are managed, distilled, and secured to derive high consumer engagement for our brands. For us, data security measures remain intact from day one. Data at rest is encrypted with state-of-the-art 128-256 bit keys. To credibly action our data protection strategy, we have a dedicated team headed by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) that consistently looks at the security element of the data. All production infrastructure is architected to sit within isolated Virtual Private Clouds (separate for computing, and storage). We adhere to a neat approach entailed below that allows us to be transparent to our clients.

 

1. Auditing

Capillary’s Information Security Management Forum (ISMF) performs Internal IS Audits on a periodic basis. Extensive audit logs are maintained for Capillary’s systems to investigate any suspected breaches, etc. assessing security controls, server provisioning, disaster recovery, and business continuity. Besides this, we also conduct consistent Audit Trails of all system actions that are readily available.

 

2. Client Assessment

At Capillary, we believe in customer transparency when any security vulnerabilities are discovered or reported. We use industry-standard bug bounty programs like SafeHats to engage with security researchers in a collaborative way. We have successfully undergone security assessments conducted by our clients including some of the leading global names across different industries.

 

3. Platforms

Our platforms are well-secured and follow the below practices to ensure data protection at all levels.

 

  • Data Processing & Transfers: All the data transfers between client stores and warehouses and the cloud use secure FTP connections. When data is being transferred it can be in an encrypted format, if required. Larger data sets using raw files/flat files are transferred through a secured Capillary application.
  • Role-based access control: The access control team provides the required level of access to the data for specific employees and clients. Access is immediately revoked when an employee’s record is terminated in Capillary’s HR system within 30 days.
  • Reports: All client reports and dashboards are password encrypted and no raw data is sent with these reports. All members and Capillary employees have restricted access to the engagement they belong to. The access grants are reviewed every 90 days, and explicit pre-approval is required, failing which, access to the resource is revoked.

 

4. People

Two-factor authentication is used at all access points, including access to the development, pre-production, and production environments using dedicated VPN tunnels.

 

  • Capillary access and administration of logical security rely on user IDs, passwords, and secure LDAP to authenticate users to services, resources, and devices as well as to authorize the appropriate level of access for the user.
  • Capillary Security has established a password policy with required configurations and expiration intervals.

 

Our Certifications: Data Security at Capillary

We are certified by the ISO, PCI, compliant with SOC2, and GDPR compliant. This clearly highlights that with Capillary Technologies’ platform, there will be no security breaches and cyber-attacks as the architecture is strongly held. All this is to ensure clients’ data is guarded every time for their services.

 

And a case study about our data protection measures…

 

Capillary prides itself in following the data protection policies for all its clients to protect their consumer data. Our data security measures are widely known. In fact, Trend Micro, the multinational cyber security software company also elaborated on how Capillary Technologies optimizes security and visibility for its cloud platforms. You could read the detailed case study here.

 

People also ask   

 

1.What are the key data privacy regulations businesses must comply with in the USA and Europe?

Businesses in the USA and Europe must comply with regulations such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. Ensuring compliance with these laws protects consumer data and avoids hefty fines.

 

2.How can implementing robust data privacy practices improve customer trust for B2B companies?

Implementing robust data privacy practices helps B2B companies build trust with their clients by protecting sensitive information, leading to stronger business relationships and increased loyalty.

 

3.What are the best data privacy tools for Singapore and Hong Kong businesses?

In Singapore and Hong Kong, businesses can use tools like OneTrust, TrustArc, and BigID to manage data privacy, ensure compliance, and protect sensitive information.

 

4.Why is data privacy important for B2B transactions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia?

Data privacy is crucial for B2B transactions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to safeguard confidential business information, maintain client trust, and comply with regional data protection laws.

 

5.How can data privacy impact B2B marketing strategies in India and Australia?

Data privacy impacts B2B marketing strategies by necessitating transparent data collection practices, obtaining explicit consent, and ensuring marketing efforts comply with regional data protection laws in India and Australia.

6 Indisputable Factors Influencing A CPG Brand’s D2C Journey

The explosion of data and digitization has curiously made the shopping aisle longer, unlocking several new avenues for CPG brands to innovate with their products and marketing strategies. Most of all, it has opened up gates to a whole new frontier – direct-to-consumer or D2C – an exciting opportunity to sell products directly to consumers and receive access to more customer data.

 

In our recent webinar on CPG in 2022: Outlook, Trends and Strategies, with guest speakers – Sucharita Kodali (VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester) and Lance Patrick (Global Price and Promotion Analytics Leader, General Mills) along with Justin Richie (Capillary Technologies’ Chief Data Officer), some of CPG’s lesser-known factors that are involved in building D2C strategies are revealed. With D2C becoming an essential route to a brand’s long-term survival, here are 6 features that must be considered while building these digital and data-rich strategies.

 

1) Align your teams on the D2C ‘mark’

 

The first step to gear up for D2C strategies is ensuring that the entire CPG brand’s organizational structure is aligned to support them. The various teams need to ally to help bring about this revolution in the brand’s roadmap. This includes building a single view of their data, applying the right technology to set up the D2C channel, and ensuring the brand is meticulously publicizing its digital channel directly to its consumers.

 

As rightly pointed out by Sucharita, “One of the single biggest assets that is essential to driving D2C success, is promoting that you have a website on your existing packaging. If people don’t know that you’re open for sale, who’s going to come to your website?” Eventually, effective collaboration and scalable technology will enable building agility into its strategy.

 

2) All sales are not the same!

 

The typical perspective of a brand is that it doesn’t matter where a sale comes from. On the contrary, once D2C channels are established, it becomes essential to track where sales come from, with D2C becoming more prioritized and profitable. Not only will this channel become a higher margin one, but will help the brand receive direct transactional data that will help understand the biggest brand advocates, their preferences and to test new products with them, leading to a more intimate relationship with customers.

 

3) Picking the right D2C channel for your brand

 

Developing a mobile app may be a good approach to drive engagement, but the brand must ensure a holistic approach before venturing into this digital platform. A brand’s presence across varied social platforms is equally important to leverage this medium by pairing the mobile app with captivating promotions across social media channels. On the other hand, it is also critical for the brand to optimize content for the mobile version of their D2C website, as a majority of the online shopping traffic comes from mobile devices.

 

While conversion is still lower on mobile compared to desktops, a seamless mobile commerce experience that is strong in every touchpoint can push customers to make purchases within a few clicks. This channel is very well suited for social media promotions, pairing them up with ads that take customers directly to a specific product page.

 

4) Discovering the opportunity in demand

 

In the last two years, work, school, leisure, and housing have all evolved, permanently altering the needs and purchase behavior of customers. In this scenario, data plays a major role in helping brands understand the demand patterns and act ahead of time.

 

Lance Patrick highlighted this need to leverage data as he stated, “No industry is going back to 2019. 2022, 2023 and beyond will be the different phases of the new normal.” He further added that understanding customers can help brands work ahead and adjust to those demands faster. Brands can ‘test and learn’ through data analysis even before they can ‘test and measure’. These consumer hypotheses will enable brands to drive the demand side for your benefit.

 

5) It all comes down to zero (party data)

 

Zero-party data or the data that is proactively shared by customers is the most valuable information that can be leveraged to attract a brand’s best customers. While respondents of a survey and focus groups have helped brands historically collect similar data, in the present era, customers are willing to share insights and feedback on products and are looking forward to new products from brands. This gives retailers access to a whole new set of data points that they have not pursued before, empowering them to set a clear roadmap for their products and processes.

 

To collect this high-value data, structural loyalty can be used as a strategic weapon. While signing up for the loyalty program, customers are agreeing to share their preferences and brands can further incentivize them for deeper insights. This enriched data in turn can help provide personalization to the customer journey.

 

6) AI and machine learning to interpret data

 

The large influx of all these sources of data may be daunting, but using smart tools powered by AI and machine learning can help interpret the data and take the next best steps accordingly. “The 2 things that clearly stood out in AI and ML are Segmentation and Personalization,” said Justin Richie, describing that intelligent tools can guide the CPG brand by:

 

  • Introducing in-depth personalization for product recommendations beyond personalizing offers and promotions
  • Analyzing customer segments and where they stand in the customer lifecycle. This will help the brand deploy various marketing tactics, right from seamlessly onboarding customers, engaging with new customers by introducing them to the brand’s products, and so on.

 

Tune in to our full webinar to learn directly from the experts on how to construct powerful D2C strategies.