You may have noticed that many companies and websites have recently informed you of changes to their privacy policies and terms of use. This is especially true for those living in Europe. At first glance, it may seem that businesses are afraid to encounter the same problems as Facebook for several weeks. To some extent, it's a little bit true. Companies certainly have reason to fear potential government regulation and oversight.
However, much of what drives the current wave of notices and applications for membership is government regulation.
You may have heard of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect on May 25th. The new rules require companies to obtain the consent of Europeans before they can use or collect their personal information. for advertising. The storage of personal data will also be limited to a limited period, and users may request the deletion of their information at any time.
Airbnb, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Google and many others have all updated their policies to comply with GDPR and have issued emails to inform users and allow them to opt for the services. While European consumers are the only demographic group protected by these provisions, CNN reports that several companies choose to have only one set of rules rather than having certain guidelines for Europe and other standards everywhere else.
Although it may seem relatively simple to change internal data collection policies, revisions have a significant financial impact. Many companies rely on data collected from users to generate advertising revenue, which allows them to offer their services for free. Given that the new regulations will allow users to delete their data as they see fit, businesses risk losing billions of dollars in marketing revenue.
Mark Thompson, KPMG's Senior Privacy Advisor, said companies are preparing for a tsunami of removal requests. Some companies will have it better than others. "If you are a big investment bank, it could be five requests a week." If you're a big retail bank, it could be 500 a day, "Thompson said.
Other companies simply will not be able to comply because of the associated costs.
"I've been with a number of Global 100 boards, and they're not going to be compliant," he said. "They spent several, several million [of dollars] some of more than a hundred million up to now."
While those concerned with their privacy applaud government regulations for the online services that they use, they must keep in mind that it 's all about. a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, they can feel safe knowing that they have more control over their data. On the other hand, less revenue for their favorite services means the possibility of facing a subscription fee for such services. Where they previously paid for membership with their data, they could soon pay with their wallets.
[ad_2]
Source link