Privacy

I was fortunate to hear Amanda Maltby, Chief Privacy Office at Canada Post Corporation speak last night, she was quite informative regarding the issues surrounding privacy for Canadians and in fact North America.

Privacy issues surround telephone marketing, admail & direct mail, email & internet marketing and more recently we are being bombarded by social media marketing. Amanda was clear, privacy laws are not keeping up to the change in technology. Technology by itself is not the issue, however, everything we do is more invasive.

An interesting side is that those of us in North America are willing to give up & surrender some privacy if it enhances our security & safety, that being said, digital data never dies, paths and history can last lifetimes. Amanda’s opinion is that there is a need for regulation and rules need to be established in protecting your data.

There are ten principles of fair information practice or the ten commandments of privacy:

1)   Be accountable for the personal information in your possession

2)   Identify the purpose of obtaining information

3)   Obtain consent – a must

4)   Limit collection

5)   Limit use, disclosure & retention

6)   Accuracy

7)   Appropriate safeguards

8)   Openness

9)   Provide individuals to their data

10) Complaint handling processes

Interestingly, over 50% of North Americans are very concerned regarding their privacy, so, as you should be aware that your customers care about their privacy, there is an implied component of trust, so guard their information carefully, and if you fail to do so, be fully aware that you are risking your reputation and the reputations of both your company and your brand. Privacy is an ethical issue, guard it carefully.

Michael Bickerton, Raven5, April 2010

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