August 1, 2020

The Technology Dilemma

Market Researchers need to know to keep customers safe from harm.

The Technology Dilemma
Molly Purcell

by Molly Purcell

Digital Marketing Specialist at GreenBook

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The world of insights is in a precarious position. We can gather more data about consumers now more than ever. Yet, we face a technology dilemma. Data collection is required to deliver the hyper-personalized experiences consumers demand. Still, data hacksunethical data collection practices, and shady usage practices erode the public’s trust in us.

 

Emily Taylor’s Tips for Addressing Privacy Concerns

According to a 2019 global survey about data privacy by McAfee, 43% of respondents felt they lacked control over their personal information. 

Emily Taylor had seven tips market researchers can use to address increased privacy concerns:

  1. Find the proper data storage platform
  2. Tell market research participants how their personally identifiable information (PII) will be used
  3. Tell market research participants the purpose of the study
  4. Include a privacy statement
  5. Be careful with how data is shared
  6. Decide who has access to data
  7. Delete unnecessary data

Read Emily’s article for GreenBook to read more of her actionable insights.

Risks

Lack of Trust Means Bad Data

Customers who have no faith in survey companies’ abilities to keep them and their data safe will not provide accurate or reliable insights. Said Sebastian Hedencrona, “46% of consumers deleted cookies [In April 2018]. [Cookie deletion] prevents businesses from collecting [consumers’] browsing information, shielding their digital footprint. But this isn’t the only tool consumers are reaching for to protect their privacy. More than 1 in 4 internet users are getting online via Virtual Private Networks (VPN), with one third doing so for more anonymity.”

Data quality is similarly threatened on the industry side by shaky research methodology, which Dana Budzyn discusses in her article, “Data Has 99 Problems and Quality is Just One.”

Cyber Fraud

It encompasses identity and payment card data theft, now accounts for 55% of all cyber-crimes. Mid-sized companies face the brunt of these attacks, with worldwide losses in the billions. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is working to prevent the unlawful use of data before it is even in the position of being attacked.

 

Internet of Things (IoT)

If a network with connected IoT devices is infiltrated, hackers can usually access every device on that network. IoT provides a very efficient way for hackers to steal immense amounts of data in just a single attack. All a hacker needs to do is find the most accessible entry point into a network.

 

Ghost Compilations and Click Farms

Ghost Compilations – Fraudsters “use the generic completion link with the survey parameters in order to send a false-positive survey completion.” It looks like the user completed the survey and is rewarded, even though they have not supplied data to the survey platform. This kind of survey fraud “might even be considered to be more problematic than survey farms since, in this case, surveys aren’t filled, which allows more fraud to be conducted at a larger scale, and with less effort on the fraudsters’ side.” 

Click Farms – Users that systematically create fake accounts to complete the same (high paying) survey multiple times. “The biggest impact this fraud has on the industry is in the quality of the samples. Once the users are following a script for their answers, the samples are meaningless, do not represent real consumers, and can lead the advertisers to make misguided decisions, defying the entire purpose of conducting market research in the first place.”

 

Data Security Defense

Give Customers Ownership Of Their Data

Give consumers better control over their data:

  • Accessing it themselves.
  • Knowing who else has access to it.
  • Refusing its sale lets marketers build trust.

Through a two-way digital dialogue, they can create “living profiles” that customers can actively control and update themselves to curate their own experiences.

Data ownership was a hot topic at the ‘When Data Meets Creativity’ panel held by Dentsu Aegis. Their take is that thinking about data acquisition differently and using creativity to unlock ethically sourced data is the way forward for the industry. To quote two of the event panelists, Yasuharu Sasaki, head of digital creative at Dentsu Inc, and Asheen Naidu, executive creative director of BWM Dentsu:

“Data is not owned by a company, people should own their data and can select which data they will give to a brand… People are wary about what technology companies are doing with their stored data. To use that data, you’ve got to do it in a very transparent way… that customers feel that you’re not stalking them or selling their information. It’s how you use it ethically that’s going to become interesting.”

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud Solutions

In her article for GreenBook, “How Are We Keeping Consumer Data Safe?” Amanda Peterson explains the benefits of using AI and cloud systems to defend against privacy threats, “Cloud systems operate from comprehensive data centers and offer centralized security across all connected platforms. The cloud’s security capabilities are constantly learning and adjusting through AI, allowing it to gather information about any given situation and react appropriately — resulting in instantaneous threat detection and repair rates.

“Oracle CEO Mark Hurd pointed.. that, for an average database, ‘if we put out a patch, it could take 8, 9, 10 months to get our entire on-premise base of databases patched.’ He went on to add that ‘if everybody had Autonomous Database, that would change to instantaneous.’ That is to say that if everyone used cloud-based systems, there would be no delay in resolving security threats. The cloud providers are dedicated to rapid response to any problems and weaknesses across the entire network, and everyone’s information would remain secure at all times.”

 

Chatbots

Peterson also elaborated on how Chatbots could be used for defense. “Many [chatbots] now come armed with behavior analytics, biometrics and AI that address the issues of authentication and encryption essential to keeping chatbots secure. As they become implemented on a much larger scale, the security products being built into them will be in higher demand, widening the market for cybersecurity and increasing the protection of sensitive data even at a clerical level.”

 

Blockchain

In 2018, 23% of GRIT respondents thought Blockchain would be a “game-changer” when complying with data privacy regulations.

According to the Deloitte Blockchain Institute, “One way of monitoring compliance of electronic data processing with the purpose limitation principle is to provide individual personal data with a meta-tag… A decentralized register managed as a blockchain could be used here to make the processing of personal data by companies more transparent and to ensure the efficient sanctioning of possible infringements.”

Ethics Guides and the Law

Data Policies

The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) partnered with GreenBoook to have a Townhall discussion on Research Ethics after the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal (The event presentation is available on the ARF’s site). The ARF’s meta-analysis of examined data policies across advertising trade associations, research companies, social media, technology/ad tech companies, as well as GDPR found that most of the data policies were outdated and too complex for the average consumer to understand:

  • Associations tend to have generally traditional policies and do not deal with the growth of technology in the advertising sector.
  • Research companies tend to focus on protecting survey respondent PII but have old policies and fail to recognize methods like pop-up surveys.
  • Social media companies offered transparency in their policies. But those policies are so long and complex; it calls into question whether consumers read and understand them.
  • The current basis for many social and ad tech policies is established initially by the Digital Advertising Alliance. While many of the principles are still valid, they did not reflect some of the features of ad tech in 2018.

The ARF concluded that meaningful notice and consent must be made available to participants, robust security safeguards need to be in place to protect participant’s data, and effective methods of redress must be available for customers who seek it.

Many researchers call for other data-driven industries to follow ethical guidelines similar to those laid out in The ICC (the International Chamber of Commerce)/ESOMAR International Code of Conduct:

    1. “When collecting personal data from data subjects for the purpose of research, researchers must be transparent about the information they plan to collect, the purpose for which it will be collected, with whom it might be shared, and in what form.”
    2. “Researchers must ensure that personal data used in research is thoroughly protected from unauthorised access and not disclosed without the consent of the data subject.”
    3. “Researchers must always behave ethically and not do anything that might harm a data subject or damage the reputation of market, opinion and social research.”

 

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

GDPR doesn’t just protect customers from spam. Among the most critical procedures in the legislation is certifying consumer consent every step of the way and validating the legitimacy of interests from the inquiring parties. Following these regulations, surveyors need to explain their rationale for each question and why specific consumers are asked to respond.

 

Domestic Privacy Legislation

It is unlikely that the U.S. federal government adopt similar data privacy legislation like GDPR. Still, states like California, Virginia, Florida, and Nevada have bolstered existing legislation to voted in new individual privacy rights laws. Lawmakers in New Hampshire, Washington state, and Illinois have drafted similar legislation.

 

 The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Inspired by GDPR, California became the first state in the U.S. to enact sweeping privacy legislation protecting its residents, The California Consumer Privacy Act, which went into effect on January 1st, 2020.

According to ThinkNow, “The California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, was passed with the intent to give California residents ownership of their data, control over what personal data is collected on them…

“Under threat on penalty and fines for violations, businesses must now disclose what information they collect on consumers and for what purpose, and if that information is shared with third parties. Companies must also comply with official consumer requests to delete that data. Consumers can opt-out of their data being sold, and businesses cannot retaliate by changing the price or level of service. Businesses can, however, offer financial incentives for being allowed to collect data, i.e., incentives for participating in a survey. CCPA only affects sample companies based in California.”

The CCPA explicitly applies to companies that:

  • Have annual gross revenues above $25 million;
  • Possesses the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices; or
  • Earns more than half of its annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal information

 

We live in a tech-centric world. It is rapidly changing how we live. It is driving cultural change. It is challenging and revamping almost every brand and industry, and market research isn’t immune to this change. Technologies providing automation and computation are leading forces, followed closely by those providing access to consumers, be it a sample source or a means to connect directly with them.

 

The original version of this article can be found here.

 

Our best resources for learning more about Research Ethics and Technology

Blog Articles

Navigating the Role of MR as Data Privacy Concerns Increase

How Are We Keeping Consumer Data Safe?

The State of the Union: Privacy Laws’ Impact on the Sample Industry

Data Has 99 Problems and Quality is Just One

The Personalization Paradox: Transforming Consumer Perceptions with Declared Data

Data Scandals in the Age of GDPR: Changing our Perceptions of Data

When Worlds Collide

The Value of MRX for Tech is in Our Experience

The Right To Be Wrong

The Existential Crisis Facing the Industry… Correction: ALL Industries!

Ghost Completions: The Venezuelan Fraud Scheme

Market Research Fraud: Distributed Survey Farms Exposed

 

Webinars

[Webinar Recording] Preparing for The Coming Data Privacy Storm: How A Compliance-focused Personal Data Network Can Help You

[Webinar Recording] The Emerging Blockchain Ecosystem in Insights & What it Means for You

 

Case Study

Finding consumers for video vox pops in 48 hrs

 

Additional resources for learning more about Research Ethics and Technology

ARF Research Ethics Town Hall

Blockchain from a perspective of data protection law

“Data is a must-have, a hygiene factor in business today”

What California’s new privacy law really means for you

What is GDPR? The summary guide to GDPR compliance in the UK

The State of the Union: Privacy Laws’ Impact on the Sample Industry

Think CCPA doesn’t apply to you? You should probably think again

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data ethicsdata privacydata securitygdprtechnology

Disclaimer

The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.

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