Melissa IN Team | Data Quality, India | data privacy, data quality, tools

2022 has seen a sharp increase in the use of data-driven models for businesses. The data management and data analytics industry has grown tremendously. Given the current digital landscape, it doesn’t look like this pace is going to slow down any time soon.

As data becomes more important for decision-making, so does managing data quality and maintaining data privacy. Here are a few trends you can expect to see in 2023.

Increased Focus On Data Protection Legislation

Over the last few years, countries across the world have started focusing on personal data protection legislation. Data is seen as a strategic asset and the GDPR too is being reassessed for effectiveness.

There are a number of landmark rulings that have been taken that are tightening loopholes. For example, the CJEU ruling on the Schrems II case declared the decision of the European Commission’s Privacy Shield as invalid because of invasive US surveillance programs.

As data privacy regulations get stricter, companies will have to implement stronger safeguards for data protection and privacy.

Accountability Will Become More Important For Data Gatherers

As the general public becomes more aware of how their data can be used and misused, they will be more hesitant to share their personal information.

At the same time, they expect personalized service from the brands they interact with and know that this is possible only when a certain amount of information has been shared with the brand. Hence, they will be more careful about the brands they shop from and, in turn, who they share their information with.

Compliance with existing data regulations alone will not be enough to be trusted. Only companies that can demonstrate responsible data handling and accountability will be trusted by customers.

Data Ownership Will Be Redefined

Many companies have tasted success by using specific data about a demographic section to build and develop applications. Lawmakers and data regulators are currently assessing the question of data ownership.

If data is ruled to be owned by the individual or a sovereign resource, the companies collecting this data would become data custodians. This would mean that rather than simply use the data they can collect, they would need to shift focus to processing and enriching data to make it their own.

For example, the company may be able to collect a name and street address from the customer but they would have to refer to reliable third-party databases to enrich this with other contact details.

International Data Flow Will Be Restricted

While the world is becoming a smaller place and you can shop from companies located halfway across the world, governments are working on asserting their authority over their citizen’s data. This includes data about their personal, financial and health details.

Countries like India and Russia have already implemented regulations to restrict the cross-border flow of their citizen’s information. Many other countries may soon follow suit with similar data localization laws with the intention to protect national security and gain an economic competitive advantage. For example, limiting the availability of data could help domestic brands get an edge over international brands in terms of understanding the customer’s needs.

Cloud Usage Will Increase For Data Analytics

Data duplication is one of the most common data quality issues. One of the reasons data gets duplicated or fragmented is that it is stored in siloes. To fight this and improve overall data quality, the use of public and private clouds for data storage and data analytics will increase in the time to come. This will help companies collect data in a more organized manner, develop a uniform structure for the same and analyze larger volumes of data to get more accurate insights. This helps create a golden record that can be accessed by all data users across departments.

What Should You Do?

While regulations for data storage and use may change, data itself will continue to be important for the success of a business. Hence, you need to take the required steps to become a responsible data company. If you do partner with other companies to collect data, make sure they prioritize data quality and regulatory compliance just as you do.

You must keep track of changing data governance regulations and ensure compliance. This helps earn the customer’s trust and minimizes the risk of legal fines. Further, implement regular auditing processes to ensure that you stay ahead of all compliance requirements.

Along with keeping data safe, you must also focus on creating value from the data you have. This means you need to work on data enrichment and analysis. Thankfully, there are tools available that can simplify the task. Work with a reliable data verification and enrichment tool to maintain a high-quality database that you can draw valuable insights from.