LEGAL UPDATE
Ethical Digital Data Usage By Henning Soller, Ewa Janiszewska-Kiewra, Jannik Podlesny, McKinsey & Company
Digital surveillance and technology have been brought to the forefront of public discussion during the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies and government entities have increasing volumes of customer data at their fingertips. As access to customer data increases, businesses must have clear, transparent standards on how they will use that data. Having a good data protection policy—and enforcing it—around the ethical use of data is a competitive advantage for businesses. Customers increasingly prioritize data privacy and will pick providers that offer full transparency about their data collection and processing. 20
Data ethics is at the top of the CEO agenda, as negligence may result in severe consequences such as reputational loss or business shutdown. To create an effective policy, companies need a formal program to ensure standards are upheld and evaluated regularly. The Case for a Corporate Data Program While many legislatures have already introduced data-privacy protection laws, there is still room for improvement. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for instance, works well as a breach-notification system but has not been consistent in imposing penalties to deter company behavior that violates data privacy.
