We like to start the year with a look at what’s looming on the privacy landscape. For 2023 and beyond, global thought leaders have made big predictions that will affect enterprises everywhere.
1. Smartphone apps will replace more paper documents. Decentralized identity is here to stay.
Kaspersky confirms an undeniable trend to decentralized identity technology like verifiable credentials and digital wallets. This one doesn’t surprise us at all, which is why our Sudo Platform APIs make it easy for enterprise to rapidly develop and deploy DI and privacy solutions to customers, and we’ve recently released our Sudo Platform identity wallet product.
Experts agree decentralized identity is the future of identity management on the internet. It will be essential to the evolving metaverse and the Web3 world. We’ll all be using personal keys, blockchains and decentralized applications to limit the amount of personal information we expose to data brokers, data breaches and dodgy business practices.
The global decentralized identity market was valued at USD 379.66 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 88.2 percent from 2022 to 2030.
Increasing incidences of identity fraud across the globe are causing more companies to turn to DI solutions. Federal Trade Commission figures from February 2022 show identity fraud incidents increased by about 45 percent globally in 2020, and DI is considered one of the most secured identity solutions to combat identity fraud risk, research has found.
Industry consensus is that brands that go quickly to market with DI technology will see huge competitive advantages. We agree. Discover how you can rapidly put decentralized identity solutions into your customers’ hands with Sudo Platform APIs.
2. The “legislative juggernaut” in the digital and data space will speed up in 2023.
Global law firm Taylor Wessing is one of many experts predicting expansion of data privacy regulations in 2023. Gartner predicts, by 2024, 75 per cent of the global population will have its personal data covered under privacy regulations. Experts are also predicting the US will get more serious about data protection, but there still won’t be a federal privacy law in 2023, which is disappointing.
Analysts at international law firm Morrison Foerster say, “Despite an end of the year push in 2022, the U.S. Congress continues to fail to make even credible progress towards enacting omnibus privacy legislation. In fact, a divided Congress with each party controlling a separate House is the last straw on the federal front for the next two years, thereby ensuring that the U.S. states will continue to lead the way in this area.”
Taylor Wessing says it is likely we will, however, see more enforcement action of existing and new US state privacy laws, such as the recent $1.2 million penalty to Sephora for violating the California Consumer Privacy Act’s ‘do not sell’ provision. Without a federal privacy law, there “may well be pressure on regulators and officials to show these new laws have real teeth. While discussion on the US’s new federal data protection law continues, it does, however, seem unlikely that we’ll see a final version passed through Congress in the next 12 months.”
We will keep watching this space.
3. Big Tech will continue to face sanctions and restrictions, but it won’t make them stop abusing user data.
Big Tech will continue to be hit with big fines for data privacy regulation violations but it won’t change their data surveillance behavior. The EU’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said in February this year: “Some U.S. tech giants may prefer to pay a fine rather than comply with antitrust rules.” Clearly, it’s cheaper for Big Tech to pay fines than change their business model.
Which means …
4. Consumers will ramp up efforts to proactively defend their data privacy.
Kaspersky says living a convenient modern life comes with a cost to privacy, whether consumers like it or not, but consumers are fighting back where they can. We’ve said for a couple years that privacy awareness is growing, and people are taking preventive measures to protect their personal data. Kaspersky says one way consumers might do that is to take out insurance against identity theft resulting from data breaches, and in 2023 they expect to see more personal cyber insurance products.
Data breaches are already enormously costly for business in financial and reputational terms. And we know consumers are taking privacy into their own hands and abandoning brands that aren’t good stewards of their personal data.
Information Week predicts, “An awakened awareness of personal data, how it can be manipulated, and the control individuals have over their own information continues to frame regulatory and commercial interests for the coming year.”
5. Data privacy regulatory compliance will continue to be a top business priority. (Forbes)
It’s no surprise then that Forbes is predicting that given businesses have to use customer data but also protect it, they will make “data protection and security their highest priority in 2023.” Gartner predicts large organizations’ average annual budget for privacy will exceed $2.5 million by 2024.
“Data security and privacy preservation are no longer niche IT concerns—they are critical business priorities. As data’s value rises and more data privacy laws are enacted, organizations that do not stay ahead of the curve may find themselves playing catch-up in the years to come. Aggressively addressing data protection and security gaps should be at the top of any company’s to-do list in 2023 if it isn’t already,” according to Forbes.
As one industry player notes: “Investors, customers, employees, and other critical stakeholders are paying close attention to business practices, ethics, and governance. As a result, transparency and consent carry significant weight when it comes to the bottom line. The opportunity to capture consumer trust will be a strategic differentiator in the years to come.
“Privacy is receiving a more significant share of visibility in the boardroom and among external stakeholders. This opens the door for privacy teams to tell a compelling story: one of integrating privacy efforts more profoundly across the organization to accomplish mutually beneficial objectives.”
As we enter 2023, we predict enterprises everywhere will be looking to initiate or expand their privacy-first product offerings to meet the increasing regulatory compliance burden and build greater trust and loyalty among their customer base which, as we know, is growing in its privacy awareness and dissatisfaction. Sudo Platform is the perfect starting place for brands looking to rush next-generation customer apps with privacy, cyber safety and decentralized identity capabilities into their customers’ hands.
Read our 10-year vision for privacy which we released in 2020.
