Mastek Blog

Why the Cambridge Analytica scandal is good for GDPR Consent

16-May-2018 13:47:33 / by Esperance Barreto

Esperance Barreto

Will the dust ever settle on the data deceit of the century? Aka the violation of user data by Cambridge Analytica and lack of vigilance on the part of Facebook, which compromised the personal information of 50 million Facebook users. Only time will tell.

Data_Breach_GDPR_Consent 

The fiasco opened up a can of worms crawling back to the 2016 US Presidential election campaign bid: email hacks, political ad targeting, fake news and more. All these disastrous revelations begged the question elucidated by the editors at WIRED, ‘Why didn’t Facebook conduct an audit?’ This decision or a lack of it could have made all the difference for Facebook.

 

Retrospective Resolution of Data Breaches

Following the investigation, Facebook resolved to clamp down on data collection abusers – suspending at least 200 apps over the misuse of data. Yet, this blatant abuse of personal information might never have occurred had GDPR compliance been in force.

GDPR gives users control of the data that companies hold on them. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica debacle should be a learning in the advantages of GDPR consent management.

 

Take Control with Consent Management

According to the ICO, ‘GDPR sets a high standard for consent’ and helps:

  • Identify who really wants to engage with you
  • Puts individuals in control
  • Builds customer trust and engagement
  • Enhances your reputation in the long term

The ICO further states that, ‘relying on inappropriate or invalid consent could destroy trust and harm your reputation – and may leave you open to substantial fines.’ That is the downside of non-compliance.

Consent management with GDPR simplifies data management by providing clarity on what can be processed. It enables enterprises to innovate and build unique data-driven, customer-focused products and services with the customer’s consent, resulting in better insight and decision-making for business advantage.

If you plan to comply with GDPR instead of coughing up hefty fines for non-compliance or taking flight like some businesses, according to this Econsultancy report, Mastek can help you get your data processes under control.

View our Take Control with GDPR Slideshare to find out how your business will benefit from valuable customer insights with consent management.

Topics: GDPR

Esperance Barreto

Written by Esperance Barreto

Content Manager at Mastek

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