My name is Grant Lewis, and I am originally from Dublin, Ohio. I have lived in Ohio my entire life, and graduated from high school in 2016 before coming to the University of Arizona. I came to the University of Arizona, because I wanted to experience a new part of the world. I am currently a senior studying finance, and look to get my masters in finance after I graduate. After I graduate I would like to get involved in portfolio management and continue to grow my career after college.
Tech Talk: Data Privacy between Consumers and Companies
As the world we live in has continued to progress technologically, many problems concerning our data privacy have continued to rise. Technology can be a great tool when it is used in the correct manner, but technology also allows people to sometimes know a little too much about individuals. But where does the line get drawn? The conversation stated, “Citizens and policymakers around the world are grappling with how to limit companies’ use of data about individuals” (Wilk, 2019). Companies are interested in individuals data for reasons such as:
- Data Marketing
- Customers Experience
- Audiences Interests
Although this information may be very informational and useful for companies, all three of these reasons can bring up issues amongst the consumers in terms of what they want people to know. Many believe that a line needs to be drawn on what is allowed and is not allowed in terms of data privacy between companies and consumers.
Data marketing is a process of how companies and specific marketers gain information on customers and can analyze this data in order to attract them. Companies can gather this data in many ways such as by tracking what people are looking up, or even through interests on social media (Knippel, 2019). Although this is very beneficial, it can raise a lot of red flags amongst consumers. Many consumers in today’s world are not comfortable with companies being able to discover this much information about them, with just a single search of an interest on social media or the internet.
Companies are very concerned about their public image, and how they look in the eyes of their customers as well as in comparison to their competition. Whenever a company sells a product, they want to make sure their customers have the best experience possible. So how do companies do this? An easy way that companies do this is through looking at hashtags on social media and from this they can complete further data analysis and gain even more insight on their target audience. Rainie stated, that approximately 91% of Americans believe people have lost control on how personal information is collected through social media (Rainie). Social media is such a good tool for many people if it used properly. These types of issues will eventually cause people to search for new mediums.
Data privacy is heavily considered by the user, but it doesn’t always appear that is the case with how companies and governments can use social media. Social media allows many groups of people to come together who share common interests and can be a great tool to utilize. Likewise for companies, they can find these groups of people and give specific advertisements that can target them in order to either gain a competitive advantage or simply gain business. Many consumers have the feeling that social media is turning into more of a business, than it is enjoyable for them. For example, the amount of social media hacks has tremendously increased over the past several years, due to this data being very important for specific groups. By companies finding groups with similar interests, it makes their job much easier because they now do not need to search for solo individuals.
I chose this topic, because it has been one of my growing concerns with the way we interact with companies. Privacy in data marketing is very important, especially in the rapid growth world we are currently living in. This topic is important because having access to private information that people are not willing to share can create a lot of chaos, and is an easy way to lose trust within consumers. Although this type of technology is very useful for companies, they need to make sure that data marketing privacy is dealt with in the correct manner.
Lawrence, C. (2019, January 21). Why Privacy Is The Biggest Tech Issue of 2019. Retrieved from https://blog.usejournal.com/why-privacy-is-the-biggest-tech-issue-of-2019-b3fdb2550fdd.
Wilk, R., & Open Anthropology Institute. (2019, August 27). What’s private depends on who you are and where you live. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/whats-private-depends-on-who-you-are-and-where-you-live-120557.
Knippel, E. (n.d.). What is Data-Driven Marketing? The Definitive Guide. Retrieved from https://www.adverity.com/data-driven-marketing/.
Rainie, L. (2018, March 27). How Americans feel about social media and privacy. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/27/americans-complicated-feelings-about-social-media-in-an-era-of-privacy-concerns/.
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