Page 304 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Unit 12: Customer Privacy

The loss of privacy leads to inefficiency in information flows, just as excessive privacy protection Notes
may. One of the predictable results of third party monitoring of telephone calls is to force
speakers to disguise or modify their communications in order to keep them secret.
Partly in response to economic and social needs, many transactions have been specifically
accorded special common-law informational protection known as “privileges,” e.g., between
attorney-client, patient-doctor, citizen-census taker, penitent-clergy, etc. The idea in each case is
that the protection of information leads to an economically and socially superior result even if
it is inconvenient to others in an individual instance.
“There is no Demand for Privacy.” This objection views privacy as an issue of concern only to
a small elite group. But to the contrary, attention to privacy is widely shared. For example,
according to information from the New York Telephone Co., of a few years ago, 34% of all
residential households in Manhattan and 24% of all its residential households in the State had
unpublished telephone numbers at subscriber’s request. Most policemen, doctors, or judges, to
name but a few professions, have unlisted numbers. On the West Coast, the spread of unlisting
is still further advanced, reaching 55% in California! It should be noted that it costs extra to be
unlisted. In other words, a large number of customers are willing to pay in order to increase its
privacy. With more than half of the population willing to do so, it becomes impossible to keep
denying that privacy is an important issue.

12.1.3 Empowering Customers in India - Indian Privacy Law Set to Change
Landscape

India is gearing up for enhanced privacy laws that protect customers. This can be a landmark
legislation that can have lasting impact on consumers, data protection, data sharing and use of
personal data & information.
India has a not been privacy friendly state. Data sharing and exchange is done freely and hence
it is not surprising to find personal information being freely available for a few cents. The
proposed act or legislation seems to be all encompassing and can have a lasting impact. Take a
look at some of the recommendations:
1. Currently, in India there is no legislation for protecting the privacy of individuals for all
information that may be available with private entities. The legislation proposes to bring
this to force.
2. Choice and consent of the individual before his/her personal information is collected
3. Information should be used only for the purpose it was collected
4. The individual should have access to his/her information at any time. He/she must be
enabled to update or correct the information
5. Data controller would be transparent in his working as regards to the collection of personal
data
6. Data controller is primarily responsible for its safety and use
The framework proposes:
1. All forms of identifiable data should be protected against under the right to privacy.
2. It goes on to define what is personal data...”to be able to identify a person, information
need not necessarily be objective identification such as a person’s name, but can be subjective
information such as the opinion that a person is a “reliable” borrower or that a person is
“expected to die of a terminal disease”. It is also important to bring all personal information
within this definition regardless of the format in which the information is stored.”

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