When Data Collection Goes Wrong: 10 Examples of Identity Data Being Misused
It’s the equivalent of leaving your front door open, and a stranger walking around your house checking through your drawers, opening your mail and reading your private diary. It’s the downside of all the data that surrounds us: a lack of data privacy. Too often our personal identity data is vulnerable to breaches, hacking and misuse. And once in the public domain, that data can be used for criminal purposes, while having damaging consequences for the reputations of the companies that left their front door open in the first place.
Misusing consumer identity isn’t just a PR nightmare, it’s also a business imperative — and nobody understands the importance of protecting consumer identity better than marketers. Exposing personal customer information not only puts the customer at risk, but also translates to substantial reputation damage for the company.
Bad business is when a brand misuses customer identity information, not adhering to the above recommendations. Consider these real-world examples of when data privacy goes wrong:
Zuzanna serves as VP of Marketing for DataSift, the leader in Human Data intelligence, where she oversees the company's marketing operations. A published sociologist, Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson left academia in 2000 to pursue a career in marketing. Zuzanna is known for building the brand of Huddle to become the global leader in collaboration and content management for government and enterprise. In 2005, Zuzanna co-founded Custard, a digital lifestyle agency specializing in advising the likes of Disney and Garmin, and was behind the now-defunct Silicon Stilettos, a meet-up for women in tech, start-ups and social media.
