As machine learning and AI begin to show up in more applications and products, companies need to pay attention to concerns about data privacy and security. This isn’t news – companies have had to act as regulators all over the world have put in place data privacy regulations (there are many versions, but GDPR and CCPA are probably the most often cited). A recent survey from Arm, asked a simple question: where should the substantial amount of data our devices generate about us be stored and processed? A majority expressed preference for “on device” as the primary location:
This reminded me of a 2017 PwC Cybersecurity and Privacy survey. They asked a related question, but in that instance they wanted to tease out what businesses consumers trust the most with their data. This survey look place over August and September 2017, months after articles on Cambridge Analytica started appearing in the press. So it’s not too surprising that Social Media finished fairly low in the chart below. I also highlighted a few categories related to the technology sector, and as the chart shows, outside of I.T. the results weren’t great for tech:
[A static version of this chart can be found here.]
Before even thinking of monetizing data, developers and companies need to better understand and respond appropriately to the cybersecurity concerns of users. As we build machine learning and AI into more products and services, we really need to have processes and tools in place to manage data privacy, data security, and other risks.
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