Data collection and tracking user behavior has been a hot topic for years, especially as technology has become more advanced. The concern of what data is collected and who has access to the culmination of user information are only two the major questions pondered by users.
A common way user data is gathered is through cookies. In 2011, cookies were brought to attention through a EU law that ultimately rippled a domino effect on the workings of cookies in every country. According to The Cookie Law Explained, the law was created to protect users information by letting them individually decide to accept or deny cookies.
As seen in the picture above, the first thing that popped up when I entered the site is the cookie agreement.
With that said, tracking behavior can be done for ethical reasons and in an ethical manner. In terms of my team’s social good campaign, if done correctly then collecting user data can be used for the consumers benefit.
Much like the cookie agreement that showed up in the image above, users have to be notified that their data will be collected on our site and any other site related to our cause. Furthermore, consumers should be able to see and confirm that our company is using a secure and reliable system to store their data. It is important that consumers feel confident when it comes to the safety of their information. Along with all of that, users should also be made aware of what their data is being used for.
Consumers may feel more inclined to allow platforms to collect their data if they know the purpose and intent behind collecting it.
For instance, for my team’s social good campaign, our users information can be used to better serve them and their small business needs. We can use demographic and location information to determine areas where clusters of small businesses were affected to better extend our resources to where they are needed the most. On that same note, that data can be used to connect each owner with other small business owners in the same business field, location, and etc. through the Samsung Small Community.
The device type analysis can give us an insight as to what suggestions of technical devices we should offer to each client for business use. It can also help better pin point the kind of tutorials our experts should create to better assist our consumer in best achieving their business goals.
Overall, gathering user data would allow us to better present our services to our users by influencing how we present it and the content we present.