Nick Pickles, Director of the Big Brother Watch organisation
gave a very interesting presentation to members of the Data Protection Forum
last week. There can be few groups that pack a larger punch than BBW, given
their staff and budget. With a huge list of press contacts, and a capacity to
respond to media enquiries within minutes, they’re always ready with a juicy
quote to spice up a story.
In 2012, Big Brother Watch appeared in the national press on
more than 400 times, with nearly 300 national and regional broadcast
appearances. They secured 6474 pieces of media coverage during the year in
total, and registered 2 million hits on their website.
Nick made a number of points that make uncomfortable reading
for the larger brands. Following a data breach, or a high profile run in with
the ICO, the brand damage may
not be immediately obvious – but it could prove to be extremely corrosive, over
time. When managing an incident, consumer communications are critical. Once a
business is seen as not being on the side of consumers, the damage may be
irreversible.
All good
sense as far as DPOs are concerned, but how do we get the message to the Board?
Well, given the research that Nick presented, there are compelling business
cases that demonstrate the damage done to brands once a celebrity or
information rights organization has generated interest in a particular privacy issue.
And, let’s hope
that the ICO’s current enforcement strategy will encourage more famous brands to realise the importance of high
data protection standards before their deficiencies are on show for everyone to
see.
Source:
www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk
.
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