To gain an insight into some of the changes that 2021 may present in relation to ethical data, Digital Journal spoke with James Kingston, VP of Research, and Innovation Partnerships at Dataswift, AI researcher. Kingston is also the Director of the HAT-LAB.
Kingston begins his analysis by focusing on the importance of data privacy and its continuing trajectory, noting: “Driven by the number of data breaches and the continued systematic misuse of personal data from large corporations, consumer data privacy and its control will be a major focus in 2021. With this, we should expect to see more legislation introduced to safeguard consumer rights. There will also be more penalties for businesses in relation to the irresponsible misuse of data.”
There will also be a trend towards corporations offering to hand back control of data to consumers, predicts Kingston. As he explains: “To develop trust within the customer experience in the competitive business landscape, businesses will start to offer consumers ownership and control of their personal data. By combining ethical, compliant, and privacy-preserving principles together with technology infrastructure built to scale for the future, data will begin to be seen as something of value to individuals and corporations.”
Kingston also expands upon the concept of portable digital identities, noting: “As we become increasingly digital, our online identities hold the answer to accessing social, economic and democratic activities. A recent report by McKinsey found the potential economic value of digital identities by 2030 will be the equivalent of three percent in developed economies.”
Going beyond this, for the current year, Kingston offers the prediction: “In 2021, people online will be able to verify their own identities. This will help billions of people who have no legal form of identity. This will lower the power of the technology giants. In By giving citizens the ability to own and verify their identity, this levels the playing field and should provide for a more equitable future.”
