CS Jul-Aug 2023
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privacy crisis<br />
REPUTATION TIMEBOMB 'WAITING TO BLOW UP MANY BRANDS'<br />
PRIVACY LAW FIRM SCHILLINGS REVEALS THAT MANY COMPANIES ARE<br />
INADVERTENTLY BREACHING CONSUMERS’ ONLINE PRIVACY RIGHTS<br />
Measures taken by companies to<br />
protect consumers data are<br />
"not working" and are exposing<br />
brands to massive reputational risk,<br />
according to research commissioned by<br />
privacy law firm Schillings.<br />
The study found that company data<br />
practices, often owned by marketing and<br />
IT teams, are falling short of legal<br />
requirements - and in some cases are<br />
harming customers by contributing to<br />
incorrect online profiles.<br />
The report, commissioned by Schillings<br />
and conducted by cross-party technology<br />
think tank Demos, tracked volunteers as<br />
they attempted to reclaim and delete the<br />
personal data companies held about<br />
them. In doing so, researchers uncovered<br />
widespread 'data ethics' challenges at<br />
large numbers of companies.<br />
The study found that:<br />
Up to 65% of companies did not<br />
respond to data requests, despite this<br />
being a legal requirement under GDPR<br />
Processes to help consumers take<br />
control of their data - eg, cookie<br />
banners - "actively seek to dissuade"<br />
people from restricting permissions<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
'Accepting All' cookies on websites<br />
often includes consent for data to be<br />
sold to data brokers - with brands<br />
unable to control how this data is<br />
then used and exposing them to<br />
supply chain risks<br />
Volunteers were "stunned" and<br />
"scared" by how widely their data was<br />
spread and sold by companies - with<br />
one volunteer discovering 2,242<br />
companies were using their 'off-<br />
Facebook' interactions to target them<br />
with advertising<br />
Controlling your data footprint online<br />
is virtually impossible and the idea<br />
that individuals can is "a big lie".<br />
Volunteers found inaccuracies in the<br />
data profiles created about them online -<br />
which can cause real-world problems,<br />
such as applying for credit.<br />
Allan Dunlavy, partner at Schillings, says<br />
the study findings show a crisis waiting<br />
to happen. "Our study shows that we're<br />
in the middle of the largest privacy crisis<br />
in history and there is a reputation<br />
timebomb waiting to blow up many<br />
brands. Brands that are intentionally or<br />
inadvertently misusing our data could<br />
suffer a serious impact to their<br />
reputations, customer base and revenue.<br />
We are in a situation where many<br />
companies are holding consumer data,<br />
not giving people their legal right to<br />
access it, and then selling it on into a<br />
system they have no control over. The<br />
burden is currently on the consumer,<br />
rather than the business, to change this,<br />
but we see the tide turning against<br />
companies that are not helping<br />
consumers."<br />
STUDY AND RESULTS<br />
To create the report, Demos, with<br />
support from consumer rights company<br />
Rightly, worked with volunteers to<br />
discover how far information about them<br />
had travelled online - and how it had<br />
morphed along the way.<br />
Volunteers were helped to exercise their<br />
Right of Access (the right under GDPR to<br />
ask companies if they are using your<br />
personal information and for copies of<br />
what they hold) and The Right To Erasure<br />
(the right to ask for that data to be<br />
deleted - also known as the right to be<br />
forgotten).<br />
Overall, the research found a deeply<br />
frustrating and confusing process, and<br />
12<br />
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