Video Disrupted: consumer trust is the heart of any big data strategy

big data video disrupted
From left: Wing Lee, CEO of YTL Communications; Matt Pollins, partner at CMS; Ricardo Tavares, CEO of TechPolis; and Steve Christian, SVP of marketing at Verimatrix.

Like just about every other industry segment today, video services stand to gain big benefits from big data analytics, from understanding viewing behaviors and effectively targeting content to optimizing user interfaces and gauging network performance. But big data also poses disruptive security and privacy challenges and risks as consumers worry about their personal data being harvested, bought, sold, shared, abused and perhaps even stolen.

Disruptive.Asia and Verimatrix recently hosted Video Disrupted, a breakfast briefing in Singapore to explore these issues, separate the sensationalism from the reality, assess the security and privacy challenges of big data, and identify best practices for good data stewardship.

The resulting discussion covered a lot of territory – while the talk was intended to focus on video service providers, it turns out many of the issues surrounding big data privacy and security are broad enough and new enough that video service providers face a lot of the same issues as every other industry segment.

You can watch the video of the full panel discussion here. Meanwhile, here are some of the key points our panelists raised.

1. Everyone is in the data business

First and foremost, big data has gone way beyond being nice-to-have. Every company should consider itself as a data business in which data is the most valuable asset your business has.

2. Trust in your brand is sacrosanct

Service providers must convince customers to see value in handing over their personal data, and that requires trust. Gaining and maintaining that trust means, among other things, the end of burying collection consent in lengthy T&Cs and the beginning of proactive policies and privacy-by-design. Think of it this way: a breach of trust won’t just result in a fine from the regulator – it will damage your brand and your customer relationships, which is far worse.

That also means a change in security mindset in the case of video service providers who tend to write contracts holding their suppliers legally liable for any security problems. That won’t do them much good because if a breach happens, it’s their brand that gets damaged, not the supplier. Customers affected by a security breach will blame the party they have the relationship with.

3. GDPR changes the game

A major turning point for the debate over big data analytics, security and privacy will be the implementation of the GDPR in the EU in May 2018. It will change the relationships that DSPs have with their customers because it will require them to make a convincing case that consumers can get tangible value from sharing their data.

And to be clear, the GDPR will have global impact outside of the EU – not just in terms of companies that have an office or a customer in the EU, but also in terms of regulatory certainty that will in turn encourage rather than hamper digital innovation. It could also provide a model for other markets and overcome regulatory fragmentation in regions like Asia – put simply, if your privacy policies are GDPR-compliant, odds are they’re exceeding the requirements of local regulations.

4. Best practices are best

Best practices for handling data include transparency, governance, maximum consumer control, and understanding the risks to the company and the consumer and striking the right balance. Data audits are also a good idea to make sure different departments are compliant with data collection policies.

Many thanks to our brave panelists for a lively and interactive discussion: Steve Christian SVP of marketing at Verimatrix; Matt Pollins, partner at CMS; Ricardo Tavares, CEO of TechPolis; and Wing Lee CEO of YTL Communications. Click the video below to find out what their favorite highlights of the morning were.

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