We know consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about privacy. The International Association of Privacy Professionals’ recent research shows 68 per cent of consumers globally are either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy. In the US, at least 84 per cent of consumers express some level of concern about the privacy and safety of their personal data and, according to Civic Science, the majority of Americans (51 per cent) are now very concerned about consumer privacy.
But we also know that despite understanding the risks to their privacy and safety from using their personal information online, most consumers fail to do anything about it—which is the crux of the famous privacy paradox, that disconnect between consumer concerns about privacy and their actions to protect it.
So many recommendations, so little time…
One reason consumers might fail to proactively protect their privacy is a lack of time, money or skill for implementing the advice offered to them. PC Magazine recently posted a list of 12 simple things that consumers can do to be more secure online. But many of the recommendations are about using existing services on mobiles and desktops, modifying behaviors, or adding an extra technology or service to their online experiences. Typically, for these recommendations, “doing what’s right” would require:
- Researching available technologies and services (spending time)
- Buying the technology or services (spending money)
- Implementing and configuring the acquired technology or services (spending time and skill)
- Using the technology or services to its fullest extent to achieve maximum benefit (spending time and skill).
Every step in that process is a barrier to regular folks making the move. They may not know where to start researching the solution or even what questions to ask. They may doubt that the thing they are paying for will actually solve their problem. Or they may lack confidence that they can make it work or even use the thing they bought. The result is often a partial solution at best and inaction at worst.
But what if you could provide an easy to understand, acquire, implement, and use package that covers all the privacy and security bases for your customers?
What if you could make it easy for your customers – who already trust you for some pieces of the puzzle – to complete the picture?
It’s a no-brainer: You would offer additional value that increases stickiness, differentiation, and customer acquisition. And your customers would get what they suspect they’ve needed but haven’t had the motivation or courage to get.
In fact, enterprises are rapidly opening their eyes to the massive levels of customer trust and brand loyalty they can generate by better protecting their customers’ privacy. Harvey Jung, Cisco’s Chief Privacy Officer and Counsel, says, ‘Privacy is a business imperative and ethical responsibility – not just a compliance requirement.’ And PwC argues that brands that get consumer trust and safety right will disrupt the market. In fact, nine out of 10 business leaders told PwC researchers that building and maintaining customer trust will be the competitive advantage of this decade.
So, do it but make it as easy as pie …
If we go back to PC Magazine’s 12 simple things list, here are five that you could easily offer to your customers as pre-packed services:
1. Use unique passwords for every login – While consumers can do this without help, it is rare that they actually do. A password manager (your password manager) removes the barriers to following this advice. A password manager will generate and securely store strong and unique passwords for every login, keeping your customers safer.
2. Get a VPN and use it – A virtual private network (VPN) gives your customers a private and secure online experience that insulates them from prying eyes and those who seek to sell or steal their personal information and digital exhaust. Your VPN would empower your customers to only reveal what they want to reveal.
3. Use different email addresses for different kinds of accounts – This is another recommendation that a consumer can do on their own but probably won’t. You can make it easy. Offering your customers a convenient way to compartmentalize their email communications across their various online activities will dramatically increase their levels of privacy and security. Imagine making it easy for your customers to have entirely separate email within entirely separate digital identities for things like shopping, dating, social interactions, medical needs, and so on.
4. Turn off the save password feature in browsers – The same password manager that allows for unique and strong passwords for every login also removes the need for the user to remember their passwords or have to worry about turning off the save password feature in their browsers. The password manager automatically and securely enters passwords. Simple.
5. Don’t fall prey to click bait or phishing scams – Giving your customers a safe and private browsing capability will go a long way towards protecting them from themselves. The product you can offer includes mobile and desktop browsing experiences that block ads and trackers, evaluates the safety and reputation of visited sites, and even compartmentalizes browsing for separate online personas.
Make it happen right now …
Anonyome Labs has long been the leader in consumer-facing privacy and security with its Platform reference applications called MySudo. Now Sudo Platform lets you easily add any of these important services to your products. We built Sudo Platform so you don’t have to, and we make it easy for you to make it your own.
Sudo Platform is a modular, turnkey collection of services including:
- Safe and private browsing
- Password management
- Virtual private network
- Compartmentalization
- Virtual cards
- Open and encrypted telephony and email communications
- Decentralized identity.
You can use one, some, or the entire stack to augment your established offerings with adjacent capabilities that dramatically increase value for your customers.
Sudo Platform is an API-first developer platform that includes everything necessary to quickly bring new products to market or augment existing products with value-add privacy and identity protection capabilities. It includes:
- Developer-focused documentation
- APIs
- SDK source code via GitHub
- Sample applications for test-to-deploy of various capabilities
- Brandable white-label apps for quick go-to-market deployments.
Let’s get started!
If you’d like to start increasing customer loyalty, gaining new customers, and differentiating your products from the competition with value-add privacy and identity protection capabilities, just let us know. We’d love to see what we can build together.
