Accenture raises alarm over personal data from consumers

Its report, “Guarding and Growing Personal Data Value,” acknowledges the benefits of using personal data to support innovation in customer service, product development and market development.
However, it also identifies the growing challenges that businesses face when using personal data, as a result of changing sentiments among stakeholders such as customers, regulators and watchdogs.
“Customer data is a digital ‘crown jewel’ for any business but an organisation’s ability to collect, analyse and monetise that asset in the future is under threat due to shifting perceptions, preferences, regulations and attacks,” Ryan LaSalle, managing director of Accenture Security, said yesterday.
“Above all, stewardship and effective safeguarding of personal data are paramount to establishing digital trust.
“The implications of failing to do so extend into a business’s operating model – meaning businesses must be organised and have the capabilities to protect the data that are entrusted to them.” The report is based on research conducted by the Accenture Institute for High Performance, which included a survey of nearly 600 global business professionals across eight industry groups, interviews with academic experts and other secondary research.
About 90 per cent of respondents said digital stewardship is the most important principle in terms of improving their business reputation and being responsible managers of personal data, and 74 per cent said their businesses are taking action on this principle.
“Rather than fight these trends, businesses should pursue proactive strategies that will help them adapt to the changes ahead,” said Matthew Robinson, managing director of the Accenture Institute for High Performance.
“This includes investing in the right talent and technologies to bolster their security capabilities and provide greater data protection, defining an operational model centred on risk management goals to better predict, detect, respond and recover from security threats, and taking action on the principles we’ve identified that can promote greater digital trust.” The report is based on an online survey of 578 business professionals across seven economies – Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, the UK and US – and across eight industry groups, interviews with academic experts in the UK and secondary research including literature reviews, case studies and industry-leading practices undertaken by Accenture specialists.
The online survey was conducted by Kadence International last July-August.