As data protection laws continue to evolve across the world, so too does the public’s awareness of privacy rights. When the GDPR was implemented back in 2018, it ushered in a new era of understanding; one that still shapes consumer expectations to this day. Strong policies and practices for data protection have become a necessary component for building customer trust and loyalty, and it’s no longer just a regulatory requirement, but a fundamental pillar of customer relationships.

In this article, a team of outsourced data protection officers explore how data protection strengthens the foundations of customer trust and loyalty, focusing on transparent communication and Privacy by Design practices – core elements that not only support compliance with data protection regulations, but also enhance an organisation’s customer experience strategy.

Transparency creates trust

The 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study revealed that 94% of organisations believe their customers would stop purchasing from them if they did not properly protect data.

This clearly highlights the importance of proper care when it comes to customer data, and in the context of data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), transparency is a fundamental element of compliance. Under the principle of Lawfulness, Fairness and Transparency, organisations are required to provide individuals with information about how their data is collected, processed, stored, and shared.

This principle is echoed in many other jurisdictional data protection legislations around the world, like Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the US.

But beyond the requirements for compliance, being open about how your business collects, uses, and protects personal data builds a relationship of trust with consumers. When people know they can rely on your organisation to handle their data responsibly, they are more likely to feel comfortable engaging with your business, and remain loyal to your services.

So how do you ensure transparency?

Exercising transparency should be more than just providing information on your organisation’s personal data processing practices, and should be done in an easy-to-understand and accessible way, so that your customers know what’s happening with their information at all times.

There are some practical and sector-specific examples of how you can approach this, as outlined below.

Use clear, simple language

Communicating in straightforward terms helps your customers (and potential customers) to understand your data practices, without any confusion.

While there may be some complex data processes in play for certain functionalities or services, explaining this in a clear, accessible way will help customers understand how their data is being managed. Stating something to the effect of “we use your browsing history to suggest apps you might like”, removes any jargon that, while technically accurate, may be difficult to understand.

Establish a clear structure and navigation

Organising information in a logical way allows people to find what they need quickly and easily.

For instance, a Healthcare provider could organise their privacy policy into clearly defined sections, such as ‘Patient Data’, ‘Appointment Information’, and ‘Billing Details’. This makes critical information easily accessible and allows patients to navigate the policy with ease.

Incorporate visual aids

Visuals such as infographics, flowcharts, or graphic elements are a great way to simplify complex information. In many cases, clear imagery can be processed easier than sections of text; instead of a long list of all the different types of personal information you collect, you could use icons instead. For an insurance company, this could mean using an icon of a house for property details or a car for vehicle information. This visual representation enhances understanding and makes the data collection more transparent.

Ensure proper placement

Making important information easy to find is a vital element of proper transparency.

When it comes to eCommerce sites, this could mean displaying a prominent link to privacy policies during the checkout process, ensuring customers can easily review it before making a purchase. FAQ sections and visual aids can also help in simplifying the information for better understanding. Enabling customers to review key information before making a purchase could lead to an avoidance of complaints further down the road.

Privacy by Design

Earlier, we referenced the 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study. Another statistic drawn from this study shows that 80% of organisations reported significant improvements in customer loyalty and trust as a result of investments in privacy measures. This increased to 92% among organisations that considered their privacy programmes as being ahead of their competitors.

Evidently, embedding privacy measures into the core of business operations is a vital component of success. Proactive strategies, like Privacy by Design, offer a complete framework for achieving this. The concept involves integrating appropriate technical and organisational measures into the design and development of new information systems, services, or products.

For organisations operating under the UK and/or EU GDPR, Privacy by Design is a requirement of compliance. This principle ensures that data protection measures are upheld throughout the entire lifecycle of data processing.

Read more: efficient ways to organise files and folders on your Mac

How to achieve Privacy by Design

There are no hard and fast rules for organisations to follow to achieve Privacy by Design, and it also depends on the type of data you are processing and what your organisation does, but here are some of the most important considerations:

Over the years, data protection has become much more than a compliance obligation, and now plays an important part in the development of customer trust and loyalty. As consumers become increasingly aware of their privacy rights, organisations need to recognise that safeguarding personal data is a key factor in maintaining brand credibility and securing strong customer relationships.

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The post Data protection: still a must for your business appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Governments in countries such as the US, Japan, and Canada already have a phone emergency alert system in place, and the UK Government is about to follow suit. But there are a number of reasons why you might not want the alerts on your phone. So here’s how to turn off the UK emergency alerts on your phone.

Testing, testing…

At 3pm on Sunday 23 April 2023, phones connected to 4G and 5G services will receive an Emergency Alert practice notification – brace yourself for a loud siren for around 10 seconds. The phone will still play the alert sound, even if the phone is on silent or vibrate. You’ll need to acknowledge it to make it go away.

In future after the test, Emergency Alerts will appear on your device whenever there is some kind of ‘threat to life’. These threats include extreme weather, public safety alerts, terrorism incidents, and missing persons.

The alerts appear as a notification and may include telephone numbers or website links containing further information. As well as the loud, siren-like sound, your phone will vibrate.

Why wouldn’t you want this?

So, let’s start with domestic violence. There are many victims who keep a secret, silent phone, which can often be their only lifeline to safety. Having that alert go off could reveal the phone. The women and children’s domestic violence charity Refuge highlights that for many women, only a silent phone is a safe phone.

Then there’s the panic the alerts can cause. Reading threads on forums where Canadians and US citizens are discussing the down sides of alerts, high on the list is the anxiety the alerts can create. Not just when they go off, but the constant anticipation that they might.

Imagine a siren going off in the dead of night whilst you’re sound asleep. Talk about stressful.

They can also go off in the night – and again, anecdotal conversation seems to indicate that often the alerts go off during the night for issues that nobody can act on at that moment. Having sleep disturbance isn’t great. Imagine a siren going off in the dead of night whilst you’re sound asleep. Talk about stressful.

People also report getting alerts for issues that are geographically far away, meaning they’re irrelevant. This could be anything from an incoming storm, to a missing senior citizen. And that id then stressful for no reason.

Also, whilst driving, the alerts can go off and cause alarm. And mistakes can be made. One commenter on a forum stated: “… an error at one of our nuclear power plants sent floods of texts to everyone that an accident had occurred and for people to seek shelter. During a test of their systems, the texts were actually sent instead of role-played. It took hours for it to be cancelled… it sent millions of people into an emergency state of shock and disbelief.”

Read: How to stay safe when online dating

Can the government track you using this system?

Well, the official line is no, it’s not possible. The government’s FAQs download states that “The system uses the cell tower your phone is connected to. When an alert is triggered, all towers in the area will broadcast the alert. To do this the Government does not need to know the specific location or personal data on your device.”

However, by responding to the alert, which you have to do to turn it off, you are actually confirming your location. So make of that what you will.

More than anything, many people construe the notifications as an intrusion, a breach of privacy. The alerts override your silent mode, meaning you still get the noise and the message, and not everyone appreciates that.

People who are bed-bound, unwell, neurodiverse, or even in hospital for example. Emergency alerts are highly likely to be most unwelcome.

Is there anything good about the alerts?

Good question. I guess you could argue that being alerted to a sudden storm might be useful, although you could just look out of the window. If there’s an act of terrorism, or a nuclear bomb, my guess is that you’re going to spot that yourself.

If your child goes missing, or your elderly relative, it might be comforting to think that other people were keeping an eye out for them.

Other than that, I’m personally struggling to see the point. New Yorkers, living in an extremely densely populated area, point out that the alerts go off all the time – particularly for missing kids – only to be cancelled hours later (more notifications). Canadians, with their much broader territory, find it irritating to receive alerts from their nearest cell towers, which could mean they’re getting flash information about something happening hundreds of miles away.

Turning the Emergency Alerts off

There are ways to opt out of this. Airplane mode will stop the alerts, although obviously that’s only temporary. Once you reconnect to 4G or 5G you will get the alerts again.

If you’ve got an old phone that only has 2G or 3G, or you only ever use Wi-Fi, you won’t get the alerts. If you’re on a non-smart mobile phone playing Snake, you’re probably pretty safe.

IOS users

Select ‘Notifications’ in the setting app and scroll to the very bottom of the page. You’ll see under ‘Emergency alerts’ two toggles; ‘extreme alerts,’ and ‘severe alerts.’

Turn these toggles off so the buttons are no longer green.

Android users

Go to the settings app and select the ‘Safety & Emergency’ menu. Select ‘Wireless emergency alerts’ near the end of the list. Toggle off the ‘Allow alerts’ button in this page. The button will now appear grey instead of blue.

Samsung Galaxy users

In the settings app click ‘Notifications.’ Scroll to the bottom to select ‘Advance settings.’ At the bottom of the page click ‘Wireless emergency alerts.’ On this screen toggle off the ‘Allow alerts’ button.

For more information, visit the Government Alerts website

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post How to turn off UK Emergency Alerts on your phone; and why you might want to appeared first on Silver Magazine.