ENTERPRISE | CONSUMER PRIVACY TIPS | DATA BREACHES & ALERTS | WHITEPAPERS

Expect More Big Changes as Privacy Hits Reputation of Tech Companies and Facebook Pledges Privacy-Focused Platform

Yesterday’s post by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the creation of “a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform” could be a key step in the advancement of data privacy protections for consumers among businesses across the world. If the world’s leading social networking platform follows through on its effort to revamp its product and business model, other companies with privacy concerns could be forced to consider substantial changes as well.

The vision is a notable change because it is not just another promise to do privacy compliance better. It sets out the creation of a new more private communications platform which would give people more control and privacy by design. Facebook will be setting a roadmap for businesses to make the transition between their current data practices and a world where businesses offer users more data privacy protections.

If Facebook is successful at the transition and uses privacy to build a competitive advantage again, it will validate on the largest scale that privacy and tech business success are not zero-sum.

Expect-More-Big-Changes-Tech-Companies

The new vision comes as Facebook is under investigation by both the Federal Trade Commission and European Data Protection Authorities, as well as the German Federal Cartel Office (which recently ordered Facebook to revamp its data practices which it said are in violation of GDPR). Facebook is not the only company to be considering the need for data privacy changes – businesses across the country are considering how to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for 2020, and other state laws are under consideration (including the Washington Privacy Act which just passed in the Washington State Senate).

Facebook has been defending its privacy practices against heavy pressure for nearly an entire year since the Cambridge Analytica news broke last March. Although Facebook said in its most recent earnings report that the number of monthly active users in the US and Canada increased between 2016 and 2018, a recent report by Edison Research found that Facebook lost 15 million US users in the past two years. About 5 percent of the total US population over 12 years old stopped using Facebook between 2017 and 2018 according to the report. By 2019, the number dropped another 1 percent to 61 percent of the population over 12.

Furthermore, a 2019 Harris Poll has seen a drop in the reputations of several tech companies among the 100 most visible companies in the United States. Facebook led the fall with a drop from number 51 on the list in 2018 to number 94 on this year’s list,. A USA Today article covering the poll blamed the drop among the tech giants on “hits to their reputations in the wake of various privacy issues.”

Facebook was not the only tech company to fall in the Harris Poll. Google was 14 spots lower as it fell to number 42 from number 28 last year. Apple also slid a few spots, falling three ranks to number 32. Netflix, which was implicated in a New York Times reported about the broad powers Facebook granted some powers, also dropped three spots to 24.

The Harris Poll surveyed more than 18,000 Americans in January to compile an RQ score about the reputations of the most visible companies after the initial selection phase in November of last year. Of the other leading tech companies, Amazon lost one spot to remain at number 2 overall and Microsoft picked up two spots to break into the top 10 at number 9 this year.

The poll also asked Americans about data privacy: “69% of Americans believe companies should be addressing data privacy, but only 17% feel they are making an impact.” Data Privacy was ranked #1 on the list of issues that companies should address, eclipsing access to healthcare (#2), education (#5) and sexual harassment (#6).

Facebook may have been at the leading edge of consumer, government and media frustrations about data privacy practices at tech companies and other businesses, but it is unlikely to be the last company to be challenged on data privacy/protection. Businesses need to be thinking through both short term changes for compliance purposes to meet the requirements of the coming privacy laws (CCPA, WaPA) as well as longer term changes to products and practices including privacy by design and by default.

For businesses to stay ahead of the competition, limited compliance changes to achieve regulatory sufficiency may be inadequate. Facebook appears to have made the decision these limited changes were insufficient and it needs a new product to maintain its competitive advantage in social networking and interpersonal communication. Other businesses looking to build or maintain a competitive advantage may need to make this bold decision as well.

Businesses also need to be looking at more privacy automation. At the rate that many businesses are collecting, analyzing and sharing data, manual implementation of privacy practices are often not sufficient. Moreover, as businesses grow, they need to have the tools already in place to monitor their privacy practices and flag areas of concern.

Clarip has been talking about the need to overhaul privacy practices for some time now and offers solutions to many of the compliance challenges with our innovative privacy software modules. Whether your organization is looking to enhance your CCPA compliance efforts or start baking privacy products into your processes from the ground up, feel free to give us a call at 888-252-5653 for a free demo.

Expect More Big Changes as Privacy Hits Reputation of Tech Companies and Facebook Pledges Privacy-Focused Platform

Contact

888-252-5653

About

Consumers

Businesses