Why GDPR Could Be A Catalyst for Innovation in 2019 and beyond

Why GDPR Could Be A Catalyst for Innovation in 2019 and beyond

GDPR: A Catalyst for Innovation, by Katherine Barnett

Over the past year, businesses have struggled to ensure that they are GDPR compliant.

Most recently, BA and Marriott received fines of £184 million and £99 million respectively for failing to do so.

It’s no wonder the GDPR has been viewed as a problem for most businesses rather than as an incentive for positive development.

Improving consumers control over their data was the drive for introducing the GDPR. But companies can also reap the rewards of a more open, privacy focused approach to data.

In fact, the impact of the GDPR has put the EU in a position to overtake Silicon Valley as leaders in technological innovation.

The GDPR Impacting Innovation

The ICOs recent report on the ad industry demonstrates how the GDPR is a catalyst for innovation.

This report outlined how real time buying (RTB) in the advertising industry is currently not GDPR compliant. This is primarily due to issues surrounding consent and the complexity of the RTB process.

The ICO found that it’s impossible for users to give legitimate consent for companies to use their data because they are almost always given incomplete information about how or where it will be used.

This is because the complexity and opacity of the RTB process means that even those directly involved in it cannot be certain what will happen to the data.

A report by Digiday addressed the need for the industry to develop appropriate methods and technologies so they can provide users with full transparency on how their data will be processed.

If agencies can adapt their data processing methods to comply with the GDPR, this will be a positive step forward for an industry that’s been under fire since the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Privacy Worldwide

The impact of the GDPR has been felt globally, not just in the EU.

This is partly because companies outside Europe have to ensure they are GDPR compliant to keep operating in the EU.

The GDPR has also shed a light on shady data practises that were previously kept in the dark from consumers. This has only added momentum to the data privacy movement and has influenced privacy laws elsewhere.

One example of this is California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which will be in effect from 2020.

The CCPA is similar to the GDPR because it will give consumers control over their data. The CCPA even has a broader definition of ‘personal information’ which includes data that can be linked to a users household or devices.

With companies based outside Europe forced to comply with the GDPR, and consumers pushing for greater data security, it’s likely we’ll see similar privacy laws implemented elsewhere.

Global move towards privacy

The introduction of the GDPR has coincided with increasing concern amongst consumers about what happens to the information they give away online.

This has led to the rising popularity of VPNs and anti-tracking tools such as Ghostery, which aim to protect user data.

The public are also increasingly taking companies to task for failing to safeguard their data, whilst privacy scandals continue to make the headlines.

By introducing the GDPR, the EU has put these privacy concerns into discernible legislation, promising consumers the data protection they rightfully deserve.

Companies should therefore view the GDPR not as a legal hoop to jump through, but as a positive guide for technological development that puts consumer privacy at the forefront.

Those companies that don’t will risk losing public support and, ultimately, business.

By Katherine Barnett (@thekatbarnett), who is a researcher at leading VPN review site Top10VPN.com. Her writing focuses predominantly on global censorship, digital rights and cybersecurity.

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