{"id":53987,"date":"2020-12-17T02:09:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=2088193"},"modified":"2020-12-17T08:28:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T02:58:40","slug":"privacy-is-the-new-competitive-battleground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/privacy-is-the-new-competitive-battleground\/","title":{"rendered":"Privacy is the new competitive battleground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Andrade-Walz<\/span> Contributor<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Alex Andrade-Walz is Director of Marketing at Evernym<\/a>, a market leader in self-sovereign identity.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In November, Californians voted to pass Proposition 24<\/a>, a ballot measure that imposes new regulations on the collection of data by businesses. As part of the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), individuals will now have the right to opt out of the sharing and sale of their personal information, while companies must \u201creasonably\u201d minimize data collection to protect user privacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

For companies like Apple, Facebook, Uber and Google, all of which are headquartered in California, these new requirements may seem like a limitation on their existing data collection capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking more closely, it\u2019s a nuanced story: By not only meeting the demands of these new regulations but exceeding them, companies have an opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors to grow their bottom line, thanks to new technologies that put data privacy in the hands of consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take Apple, the world\u2019s most valuable tech company, as an example. When Google and Facebook \u2014 two of Apple\u2019s largest competitors \u2014 were under fire for exploiting customer data, CEO Tim Cook saw an opportunity to turn privacy into a competitive advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tech giant rolled out a suite of new privacy-maximizing features, including a new Sign In With Apple<\/a> feature that allows users to securely log in to apps without sharing personal information with the apps\u2019 developers. More recently, the company updated its privacy page<\/a> to better showcase how its flagship apps are designed with privacy in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

By not only meeting the demands of these new regulations but exceeding them, companies have an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

This doubling down on privacy took center stage in the company\u2019s marketing campaigns, too, with \u201cPrivacy Matters\u201d becoming the central message of its prime-time air spots and its 10,000+ billboards around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course, the company could hardly resist taking the occasional jab at its data-hungry competitors:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer \u2014 if our customer was our product,\u201d said Cook in an interview with MSNBC<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve elected not to do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s commitment to privacy not only puts them in a stronger position to comply with new CPRA regulations. It also sends a strong message to an industry that has profited off of customer data, and an even stronger message to consumers: It\u2019s time to respect personal data.<\/span><\/p>\n

The growing demand for privacy<\/span><\/p>\n

The prioritization of consumer data privacy comes out of a need to address growing consumer concerns, which have consistently made headlines in recent years. Attention-grabbing stories such as the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal, as well as major breaches at companies such as Equifax<\/a>, have left consumers wondering whom they can trust and how they can protect themselves. And the research is pretty conclusive \u2014 consumers want more out of their businesses and governments:<\/span><\/p>\n