Unlocking value from the ever-widening stream of complex, fast-moving “big data” has generated a great deal of buzz in the C-suite. But often left out of the discussion is how to gain access to this information—much of it sensitive personal data—in the first place. In order for global companies to have the greatest possible access to personal data, consumers need to trust that this information will be well stewarded. Good stewardship means that data will be used for the purposes allowed—and only for those purposes.
Some organizations will excel at creating trust, and some will not. We estimate that those that manage this issue well should be able to increase the amount of consumer data they can access by at least five to ten times in most countries. And if they can generate meaningful insights from this information and execute an effective big-data strategy, the resulting torrent of newly available data could shift market shares and accelerate innovation. This performance boost is what we call the “trust advantage.”
Trust is elusive, however. An example with recent relevance is the revelation that the U.S. National Security Agency has been widely monitoring e-mail, phone calls, Web traffic, private networks, and cloud services—even those previously thought to be encrypted—to fight terrorists. Many have expressed concern that the personal information the U.S. government has collected will be used for other purposes. In the absence of mechanisms to prevent this, there have been efforts to place such severe restrictions on the use of personal information that the original goal—reducing terrorism—could itself be jeopardized.
Without consumer trust, most of the trillions of dollars of social and economic value promised from big data will not be realized. (See “ Livre o valor dos dados do consumidor , ”Artigo do BCG, janeiro de 2013.) De fato, estimamos que dois terços do potencial de valor total se perdem se as partes interessadas não conseguirem estabelecer um fluxo confiável de dados pessoais (consulte“ Consulte “ O valor de nossa identidade digital , ”Artigo do BCG, novembro de 2012.)
A boa notícia é que a confiança pode ser sistematicamente construída e fortalecida-se as organizações dominarem os princípios internos, os códigos de conduta, os mecanismos de conformidade e as métricas de bordo, em vez de administrar os dados que se requerem, e se eles se comunicam transparentemente com os consumidores sobre suas ações e desempenho, conforme os dados. Relegado ao departamento legal ou de política pública sob o disfarce de privacidade ou lobby. John Rose
