Let Us See the E-Privacy Regulation as an Opportunity to Innovate

Michael Gorman
By
July 2, 2019 ·

The General Data Protection Regulation is closely associated with the EU legislation which protects the privacy of communication in the electronic form or e-privacy. A research conducted by the European Data Protection Board discovered that GDPR and e-privacy have common comprehensive rules that protect data.

The research referred to the formal directive made back in 2002 by the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications which issued without prejudice the e-privacy regulation, thus enabling it to make its way through the European legislative processes.

E-privacy Regulation Process

The progress of the regulation of e-privacy has not been very smooth because it covers some of the most argumentative and contested areas in today’s privacy and the digital world which includes online advertising, cookies and marketing.

Today, the one thing tech leaders should worry about is the difficulty in reconciling regulation and innovation. Most organizations in the tech industry are still doing their best to adjust to EU’s GDPR. And there is more to come in future. The adoption of e-Privacy regulation is the next phase that is expected to be published this year.

California Consumer Privacy Act was enacted by lawmakers just recently and it is expected to take effect in the year 2020. This Act is not as far reaching as EU’s protection because it offers a number of loopholes to the industry however, it is expected to go in a similar direction. These implementations will have similar effects on future innovation and business operations.

Regulation vs. Innovation

Keep in mind that if the European Union did not step in with strong regulations, cybercrime would be happening at epic proportions now and would erode most online businesses and stagnate all the possibilities and opportunities that the internet has to offer.

Today, there are about 23.14 billion devices connected to the internet all over the world. A research conducted by Statista found out that his number is expected to increase by almost 50 billion by 2025.

With this massive number of internet devices connected all over the world, the internet will be highly vulnerable to data breaching. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cybercrime will cost people and businesses almost $6 trillion every year by 2021. This is actually the greatest wealth transfer the world has ever had. Innovations and incentives will be much more valuable and profitable than all major illegal drugs put together.

There is a higher risk of cybercrime reaching epic proportions than has ever been witnessed before and this will definitely erode our trust and freedom to use the internet how we want.  The more the personal and professional information about an individual or enterprise is uploaded on the internet, the more powerful the hackers and anti-socials get.

Personal and business information can be used against us and will eventually impact our reputation and our ability to operate with progress in mind.

The question thus is not whether regulations like the ePrivacy Regulation will stifle innovation. It is how can they be perceived as the container or framework within which responsible innovation and ethical out of the box thinking can be carried out, without causing harm to any stakeholders involved.

Regulations are Opportunities

As the popular saying goes, with crisis comes opportunities. Assignment Holic UK reports that tech companies should not think of the set regulations as impediments, instead they should see it as an opportunity to expand and grow in a safe and secure environment.

This is the ideal time for them to be as innovative as they can. Tech leaders need to use the right tools to empower themselves and protect their personal and corporate information. And they also need to set the tone for adoption of these regulations with the confidence that they will only improve the marketplace and not become a bottleneck for marketing or optimization.

Because with the inventive use of technology, turning a seeming obstacle like GDPR (or the ePrivacy Regulation) into a goodwill win is indeed possible.

Here is what our Head of Privacy, Dionysia Kontotasiou – who spreaheaded our GDPR drive – has to say about the journey of viewing the regulation as an impediment to embracing it as a strong component of the branding story at Convert.

We have found that thanks to GDPR, our work has become faster and more efficient because we are dealing with clean data and engaging with customers who actually want to hear from us.

Getting privacy right is a competitive advantage. We’re more likely to trust a service provider who values our privacy (beyond mere legal compliance) and is transparent about how our data is used. The GDPR requirements opened the door for us to review policies about what we tell customers regarding how their data is collected and processed. This transparency lead to deeper trust and more loyal customers.

With GDPR, data become more consolidated and accurate. Redundant, Obsolete, Trivial Data was eliminated. We could also reduce IT costs further by retiring any legacy data software and/or applications that are no longer relevant nor compliant

DIONYSIA
DIONYSIA
HEAD OF PRIVACY, CONVERT

Regulation alone cannot achieve the goal of protecting the user fully. The right tools have to be used in the right way.

Failure to hold tech companies responsible for how they use their information will create a predatory world instead of a safe and secure world. The world is whole and complete with the digital and real world working together in harmony. There is no digital world and real world. All the rules apply and the playing ground is the same.

You should always remember that the cloud does not serve us anymore and big data is huge threat to our democratic and constitutional processes. We need to break the cloud down into mist. Let’s get excited and ready to welcome smart data into our hearts and minds.

Get Ready

Right now, we should be focusing on novel technologies to authenticate, identify and encrypt intelligence robots. This is the final yet crucial point in the digital world if we want it to be sustainable and cooperative. There is an urgent need for us to create efficient solutions and novels to distinguish human beings from automated servers and robots.

This need will be greater as internet bots and protocols related to the block chain market start becoming prevalent.  If this does not happen, artificial intelligence will access our personal and enterprise data and this will lead to unpredictable outcomes including financial losses and stiff market competition.

The growing digital economy will be sustained and improved only when innovations and regulations start working together as one. Now is the time for tech developers, essay writer for hire and engineers to think of innovative ways to design by privacy so that the future can be safer, brighter and much more secure.

Conclusion

The rapid advancement of technology has paved way for many innovations that have certainly improved our lives. As more people continue joining the crowded space, the greater the importance of safety and security. It’s difficult to know the intentions of a person in the digital space.

Therefore, it’s very important for us to embrace the regulations being set and implemented by lawmakers. At the end of the day, they are there to help us perform better. If they had not been created, there would be no online space because no one can work using a platform he or she doesn’t trust.

As we said earlier, regulation is much more important than innovation today because nothing can happen in the digital space without reliability. Regulation has created millions of jobs online. Nowadays, we trust our business partners and associates even if we’ve never met face to face.

This is the key to success today and in the future. The online platform has immense possibilities that need to be exploited in the right manner. Let’s embrace the changes that are happening and get ready for them before they catch up on us.

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Originally published July 02, 2019 - Updated January 20, 2022
Written By
Michael Gorman
Michael Gorman
Michael Gorman
Michael is among the best professional essay writers in the UK, as well as a prolific blogger.

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