The masses of tracked data online reveal patterns, trends and associations. This is big data – the large volumes of structured and unstructured data that businesses collect and analyse on a daily basis from their consumers.

For business, it has many advantages – such as focussed levels of service for Pepsi’s customers, reducing Nestle’s supply chain costs, and increase staff engagement with Starbuck’s ordering application.

No doubt, big data is here to stay. In 2020, 90% of business professionals and enterprise analytics leaders reported big data and analytics as key to their organisation’s digital transformation, according to a forecast published by Acute Market Reports.

Big data analysis tools are also becoming more accessible and less costly with open-access frameworks, no longer restricted to the major industry players.

Concern for consumers is that big data is perceived as able to invade every element of their private lives, potentially stripping them of privacy, even revealing important elements of their behaviour and interactions.

How can business navigate this conflict?

Consumer push back

One of the biggest challenges for business is reconciling the mining of big data in order to fulfil business goals, while at the same time dispelling the fears of consumers.

Customers want to know how their data is being used. They are putting more pressure on business to provide opt-in and opt-out features, and transparency around data use.

Consumer awareness groups that have already put a lot of pressure on tech giants like Facebook into disclosing the price it puts on data. Apple’s privacy statements speak of not “compromising individual privacy” and Google has said it needs to do more.

A Google’s privacy review. Credit: googlesystem.blogspot.com.

Big data analysis tools are also becoming more accessible and less costly with open-access frameworks, no longer restricted to the major industry players.

But, as alluring as it sounds, the concern for consumers is that big data is perceived as able to invade every element of their private lives, potentially stripping them of privacy, even revealing important elements of their behaviour and interactions.

How can business navigate this conflict?

Educate consumers about how their data is very used

Now big data is essential to build an impactful business strategy. But its more than this, it’s about responding to the needs of stakeholders and customers, enabling useful insights to better align strategy, and being transparent about how we’re doing it.

Big data has clear advantages for consumers, and smart consumers know this. For example, they enjoy the benefit of a tailored Netflix experience that their recommendation engine, which is a powerful way to discover content that is highly relevant to their interests.

While it is important to be aware of the business and analytical potential of big data, it’s also important to be aware that consumers have opinions and power, and they are suspicious.

There are increasing expectations that business will be transparent about data use. Platforms like G2 Crowd, Yelp and Glassdoor are actively enabling consumers to compare businesses in terms of authenticity and trustworthiness.

HBR defines three best practice for prioritising customer privacy. First, explain the benefits customers will receive, such as personalised offers, rewards, or access to information.

Second, give customers choice over the types of data they share, including name, home address, mobile phone number.

Third, empower the customer with tools to easily edit their privacy settings, as well as a ‘download my data’ button to allow customers to know and obtain the data company’s have on them at any time.

Be authentic, honest and customer focused

Business is becoming more customer-centric. With processes that foster consent and trust in place, a business can monitor their customers’ need to understand, and to respond to problems as they occur. Authentic feedback loops underlie winning data strategies.

Consumer-centric design is giving consumers control over their level of engagement and the direction of business.

Most consumers want to own their own data, and business needs to prove its trustworthiness before they’ll willingly share it with you.

Don’t oversell the benefits of big data

Misuse of big data has the potential to undermine the trust between consumer and brand, so business must recognise that there are limitations on what big data can and cannot do.

Data alone doesn’t spontaneously offer ideas: algorithms themselves aren’t creative, no matter how sophisticated the technology.  But big data does provide opportunities to help find solutions.

Humanist and entrepreneur Tim Leberecht has been a big advocate of social wellbeing amid digitisation trends. Credit: Thefuturesagency.com

It also pays to remember that big data only makes sense when we use it in the right way.  In the words of Silicon Valley humanist, Tim Leberecht, “Big Data makes us smarter, not wiser.”