EDITOR ’ S COMMENT
DATA PRIVACY IS A CULTURE , NOT A CHALLENGE
DANIEL FRIED , GM AND SVP EMEA AND WORLDWIDE CHANNEL , VEEAM SOFTWARE
Privacy is a human right , and this is not something big tech can expect to trample on . The cloud industry in particular must embrace this rather than battle against it to continue the rapid growth it has seen in the past decade , writes Daniel Fried , GM and SVP EMEA and Worldwide Channel , Veeam Software .
Digital technologies are used all over the world with no continent on Earth untouched . While it is incredibly difficult to quantify , various estimates put the value of the digital economy at around 4 to 15 % of the world ’ s GDP , according to the UN . Technologies such as connectivity and the cloud have generally served to promote globalisation and play a unifying role for people and businesses in different parts of the world . However , in recent years , we have seen cultural differences begin to come to the fore .
Notably in Europe , Middle East and Africa ( EMEA ) – spearheaded by the European Court of Justice – there has been a strong challenge to the idea that data should be allowed to flow seamlessly from one place to another . Privacy is a human right in this part of the world , one which is rather at odds with the concept of free-flowing data and the so-called “ sharing economy ”.
The General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) passed in May 2018 was the first example of a truly robust and punitive regulatory framework based on shared principles of data privacy . Over three years on , GDPR continues to bare teeth and companies failing to comply have faced heavy financial penalties .
Too often regulations like GDPR and the EU ’ s more recent invalidation of Privacy Shield in 2020 are seen as barriers . This is possibly because data is the currency of the digital economy and restrictions on its use are viewed as attacks on capitalist freedoms and innovations .
This is a narrow view of what the digital economy truly is though . Data has often been referred to as currency of highly monetisable assets like oil and gold . It is however very different to these entities . It ranges from the highly confidential and deeply personally to the indecipherable and completely useless .
Where data , particularly personal data , is similar to more impersonal entities such as oil and money , is that it ’ s commercial use must be regulated .
The same as it is for banks to look after their customers ’ money , businesses using data to gather valuable , monetisable insights
The General Data Protection Regulation passed in May 2018 was the first example of a truly robust and punitive regulatory framework based on shared principles of data privacy .
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