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By Andre Andriolli, CTO of VMware in Latin America

 

 In May 2018, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force with the aim of protecting European citizens and guaranteeing their privacy. By holding companies and organizations accountable for the collection, storage and use of information from all people in the European Union, the law plays an important role not only in the region, but for everyone who intends to relate to European companies or collect data of its citizens.
 
When we discuss data privacy, the first thing that crosses people's minds is social media and all the information we deposit on them. Political decisions of extreme relevance, such as the 2016 US elections and Brexit (the UK's exit from the European Union), were surrounded by questions about the influence of digital media in their resolutions, especially fake news.
 
These situations prove that the impact of the data goes far beyond social networks, directing, even the future of a country. And, regulations like this become more and more relevant, especially after scandals like Cambridge Analytics, which led the market to pay more attention to the subject, until then, a little incipient. Even so, its impacts go far beyond the scenario presented.
 
With the advancement of technology, organizations also began to capture more information from consumers and saw in them several opportunities for growth based on their behavior. The digital revolution has further intensified data collection and the systems that use them at scale have evolved in ways we never imagined.
 
Today, individuals' data is truly a precious asset for businesses and governments. However, they need to be treated in a safe and correct manner so as not to compromise either people or business. Irresponsibility can be costly and have legitimate social impacts.
 
In the United States, credit card companies have implemented a security protocol to regulate the industry, aiming to protect data transacted in e-commerce. Thus, when purchasing a plane ticket, for example, some airlines save their bank details to speed up the process for an upcoming purchase. With the American protocol, for this to happen, it is necessary that all information is encrypted and that companies ensure that all necessary security patches are installed and updated.
 
This still does not happen in Brazil, but with the GPDR and LGPD, a local law similar to the European law recently approved in the country, I believe that we will see initiatives like this, not only in the credit card segment, but in all sectors. The motivating factor is the responsibility of the organizations in relation to the treatment and leakage of the collected data - not to mention the millionaire fines and the impact on the companies' image and reputation. In the current scenario, in which we live with a lot of fake news and an increase in consumer concern with the responsibility of companies and the user experience, this becomes even more relevant. Technologies to assist in this process already exist.

Disclaimer: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies

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