Artilium

Monday, May 04, 2009

Let the subscriber decide

There has been a recent storm over Phorm! (i) Apparently BT had been testing Phorm, a behavioural advertising service, on their broadband network without the consent of users. Phorm claimed that its technology was “fully compliant with UK legislation and relevant EU directives”. However, opinions differ. The EC started legal action over this service. The problem centres on whether the customers have given consent to have their personal data used by an advertising system.

The clear solution for this type of problem is ensuring that the customer consent is given and that they are aware of how their personal data will be used. According to EU directives “Personal Data” is information relating to an identifiable person. Even if the person is identifiable in an indirect method, the directive still applies.

Within a mobile network there are many “digital breadcrumbs” that constitute personal data and there needs to be security around this information and a policy on what should be stored, depersonalised or destroyed. The ownership of this data actually resides with the operator however data protection and other legislation determine how it might be legitimately used. The identifiable subscriber data cannot be used for just any purpose and essentially the operator needs to provide the subscriber knowledge about how their data is to be used and allow them to opt-out. Just giving the subscriber rights in line with legislation is not really enough and I advocate a policy that lets the subscriber decide what level of personal data they wish to make available, and the benefit of doing this should be made clear.

Supermarket loyalty cards are a good example of customers providing personal information in exchange for a benefit. You have the choice to have a card or not. You are usually given the opportunity to allow your data to be shared with 3rd parties or not. The benefit you receive is savings and discount vouchers. These vouchers are personalised based on you known purchasing profile. The retailer benefits by understanding their customer – they know who you are, what you buy, where you buy it, when you buy it. This helps them determine what they should stock to maximise their profits and means they can discretely watch their customers buying habits. This business model provides a benefit to retailer and the customer and the customer retains ultimate control over their personal data and how it can be used.

Looking at successful models in marketing where there is a relationship between a customer and the marketing companies gives us insights into how a successful mobile marketing system based on subscriber profile data might work. The common themes are: there is a benefit, there is choice, there is transparency in the relationship, there is security of personal data and there is trust that the data is not being abused.

The benefit needs to be obvious. It might be that free local information content is provided based on user location. The benefit is relevant information and the subscriber accepts that location data must be made available in order for this benefit to be realised.

The subscriber must be given choice relating to the use of their data. Subscribers may choose not to provide personal information or may choose how information is to be made available – e.g. the precision of location information might be controlled by the subscriber. Initially they might set a low precision and gain some benefit. As they build trust they might allow more precise information to be available to an application and may find that content and adverts become more relevant.

There must be transparency surrounding the need for the data and its relevance to the service being delivered. The data should not be used for other purposes unless the subscriber is fully aware of this fact. An application for the Taylor Swift fan club delivers offers and vouchers to member and it may monitor the responses to these, which is fine. However, if the data is then used by a different marketer to promote a Kelly Clarkson merchandise, the subscriber would have to have been informed of this use of data at the time of the opt-in to the service or application. Burying these Ts&Cs in small print is not transparent and should be avoided otherwise the subscriber will lose confidence in agreeing to services that have unexpected consequences.

The subscriber must be confident that their personal data has sufficient security and cannot be accessed by any third party without their full consent. Without peace of mind subscribers will not readily allow their personal data to be used.

There needs to be trust that the operator will not only obey the laws with regards to privacy, but that they will also be sensitive to the privacy issues and feeling of their subscribers and will act in their best interests at all times.

The ARTA Mobile Applications Platform deals with these issues in a clear way. The key factor is that the subscriber has control and in order to access any personal data the subscriber has to actively opt-in. By giving subscribers as much control as possible we allow them to find a balance between what information they open and the benefit they receive via applications and services in return. The security of the data is controlled tightly and it is not possible to access personal data without the full permission of the subscriber. This permission can be controlled via the platform so the subscriber does not accidentally agree to Ts&Cs they would not be comfortable with.

The key message is – show the benefit, give the subscriber control, be open about the use of data, look after the data, be sensitive to subscribers’ issues and then the trust will be established.

(i) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7998009.stm April 14, 2009.