Tag Archives: MEF

MEF Global Consumer Trust study 2017: all hail the rise of the savvy user

Data Privacy, , , ,

A new influential report on consumer trust has found heightened awareness of privacy issues is leading to encouraging changes in behaviour.

The annual Global Consumer Trust study from Mobile Ecosystem Forum found that privacy is the biggest trust-related concern for 16pc of those interviewed.

Growing awareness of privacy, security and identity issues is also prompting distinct changes in behaviour, with 75pc of respondents saying they always or sometimes reading privacy policies and terms of conditions before signing up to mobile apps or services.

In what the report dubs the emergence of the Savvy Consumer, 86pc will go on to take some kind of action if their trust is challenged.

Almost half will stop using a service (a year-on-year increase to 44pc from 38pc) and nearly one in three (30pc) will warn friends and family.

At the same time, the Savvy Consumer also rewards businesses they trust with almost half (47pc) recommending them to friends and family, and 44pc leaving a positive review.

The report, based on a 10-country study carried out by On Device Research on behalf of MEF, also shows that consumers recognise the value of services created by offering more control and choice over how their personal data is managed.

When asked what consumers would value in exchange for their sharing, personal data privacy-protection and access to their data (31pc) was judged to be more important than financial rewards (29pc) and discounts (22pc).

One in three (33pc) understands that the benefit of transferring data between providers – portability – might save them time, and one in four (25pc) would appreciate faster identity verification.

Rimma Perelmuter, MEF’s CEO commented: “MEF’s annual consumer trust study is a barometer of evolving consumer attitudes and carries significant lessons for the mobile ecosystem. This year’s study shows a paradigm shift with the emergence of the ‘Savvy Consumer’ and identifies clear business benefits for all stakeholders to create data-driven services built on trust, transparency and control.

“Heightened consumer sensitivity combined with increased awareness of the value of their personal data means that the industry needs to shift its mindset and default to a position of putting the consumer first. The opportunity is to design products and services or create new business models that are based on a fair and trusted value exchange in order to meet changing consumer demands.”

When asked what makes an app or service trustworthy, more people (33pc) pointed to a ‘clear, simple privacy statement’ than any other response.

More than half (53pc) said it was extremely important to know that an app or service is using their personal data and 61pc said it was important that a company deletes personal data held when asked.

MEF’s Global Consumer Trust study is supported by ForgeRock, Orange, and digi.me. On Device Research surveyed 6,500 consumers in 10 markets: Belgium, China, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, South, Africa, Spain, UK and USA in Q2 2017.

Digi.me’s Julian Ranger elected to MEF global board

Announcements, Data Privacy, , ,

Julian Ranger, the founder and executive chairman of digi.me, has been elected to the global board of Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF).

Digi.me is already a full member of the global trade body, and Julian has been working closely with MEF as part of the Consumer Trust working group to enable businesses to successfully take advantage of the transition to personal ownership of data.

As part of this, he has contributed to a major submission to the EU’s Horizon 2020 funding which would allow MEF to undertake trials and research, as well as introduced MEF to potential strategic partners and promoted its work to key personal data innovators.

He said: “I am delighted and privileged to be elected to Global Board of MEF, where I will be particularly supporting the MEF’s Trust and Personal Data initiatives and helping to develop interoperability requirements.

“As privacy becomes ever more a focus, especially with new laws such as GDPR, there is a strong belief that this presents an opportunity to businesses that embrace change with Trust rather than being a bar on business.”

In his election submission, Julian promised to focus on ensuring that MEF’s Consumer Trust initiative develops as the ‘doers group’ vis-à-vis other industry efforts – delivering value to members whilst addressing industry imperatives around research, interoperability and new use cases.

He also looks forward to supporting the Executive with dedicated introductions and business ideas to identify investment and partners to support these crucial activities.

Understanding the Personal Data Economy

Using Digi Me, ,

Explaining the purpose and vision behind giving users back control over their personal data can be one of the trickiest things we have to do.

While more and more people are becoming aware of what happens to their data behind their backs, and the personal data economy, including solutions such as ours, continues to grow apace, for those needing to start from the basics there is a lot to take in.

In future, that job will be made a lot easier by this excellent whitepaper from the Mobile Ecosystems Forum, which is the result of many interviews, including with our founder and personal data privacy expert Julian Ranger.

This, from the foreword, is an effective summing up of the problems facing the data harvesting industry today, and why a change to an individual-centric is both inevitable and beneficial to all: “Simply, the personal data economy describes a powerful new idea: letting individuals take ownership of their information so they can share it with businesses on their terms.

“Interest in the idea is growing for reasons of efficiency and ethics. The average individual has personal data stored in dozens of different locations. but it can be hard to access this information and then share it. Giving data back to individuals would solve this.

“It would also address the concerns some people have about the way companies accrue data about them and, indeed, many companies would welcome this too. Data harvesting is expensive and can be ineffective; companies are looking for an alternative.”

We have always talked about digi.me’s Internet of Me vision, where the user is at the centre of their connected life, being a true win-win for both users and businesses, and the paper explores this in depth in a way that is accessible and interesting for all.

I thoroughly recommend a full read of it – especially as at 33 pages it’s reasonably short and concise!