Treat information as a valuable asset

A customer pays through lipa na M-Pesa service in Naivas supermarket in Buruburu on September 16, 2015. At a minimum, when you register for a service with a mobile provider or sign up for a bank account or a loyalty card with a supermarket, you give out details such as name, national identity number, and PIN. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Many companies are collecting a lot of personal information, analysing it and using it as a pointer into the future.
  • The potential value of these information to companies has transformed privacy into a transaction — one in which consumers are not benefitting from equally.
  • Given the importance of information in the current world, the client need to be assured of the safety and privacy of their information.

In the last decade, assets that most companies concerned themselves with were tangible – equipment, buildings, manufacturing tools and inventory.

Now companies must add information to their list of assets, especially personal information.

Information has been characterised as the oil or the currency of the 21st century. Many companies are collecting a lot of personal information, analysing it and using it as a pointer into the future.

The capability of new digital technologies has led to the collection, storage and trading of personal information on an unprecedented scale, and largely imperceptible to consumers.

The potential value of these information to companies has transformed privacy into a transaction — one in which consumers are not benefitting from equally.

Currently, the transfer of information between consumers and companies is a one-sided handshake in which consumers have little power and less control.

At a minimum, when you register for a service with a mobile provider or sign up for a bank account or a loyalty card with a supermarket, you give out your name, national identity number, PIN, age, address, telephone number, income, marital status, number of children and so on. A whole lot of personal information.

This is the kind of information that companies used to pay hefty amounts of money to collect. Now, we provide it freely when acquiring goods and services, online or offline.

Conservatively, for example, one can estimate that mobile phone providers in Kenya are keeping personal and detailed information of more than 60 per cent of the population and nearly 80 per cent of the adult population.

Companies and institutions like these are not only saving a lot of money by not commissioning expensive surveys to collect this information; they use the information to project trends in consumer needs and customise their services and products to suit the market.

For companies that are able to spot these trends and respond in real-time, it can make the difference between being a follower or a front-runner, which will translate to increased market share, customer loyalty and, ultimately, increased revenues.
SECURE INFORMATION
Given the importance of information in the current world, the client need to be assured of the safety and privacy of their information.

They need to be told how their information will be used currently and in the future, including who can access it and how and with whom the information can be shared with and in what circumstances.

In the recent days we have seen how personal information in the hands of mobile service providers is helping in investigations such mystery deaths.

It is probably not wrong to do so in the interest of national security and in helping unravel certain issues, but one would need to be aware of these possibilities at the point of giving out this information. It is a personal right.

Information is now an asset and should be treated with the same sensitivities that we attach to other assets.

It is wrong to continue to ignorantly provide all this information without the knowledge of how it could be used.

Over the next 10 years, it is projected that the intelligent use of information will become one of the biggest competitive advantages a company can have.

At the same time, the confidentiality, privacy and safety of customer information is one of the bigger risks to a modern business.

In a future in which customer information will be a growing source of competitive advantage, gaining consumers’ confidence will be key.

Companies that are transparent about the information they gather, give customers control of their personal information, and offer fair value in return for it will be trusted and will earn ongoing and even expanded access.

Those that conceal how they use personal information and fail to provide value for it stand to lose customers’ goodwill — and their business.

Wambugu is an informatics specialist. [email protected] @samwambugu2