In this article you will find out…
- How Quicksearch uses information about you as a user
- GDPR's main task
Written by Magnus Göransson, System developer, Quicksearch
When someone mentions data collection, the general picture is probably that it is about some kind of monitoring. This may be a consequence of the fear of a controlling big brother society. But can it not also benefit you as a user if used correctly?
We've all been there. We have signed up for a new service and before you can start using it, you have to accept terms of use that can be compared to a novel the size of a Tolkien book. To be honest, I don't think I've ever read these terms, but at the same time I'm aware that I accept that the service will probably want to collect a lot of information about me and how I use it. This may seem uncomfortable, especially the uncertainty of how much or what they are collecting about me.
Last autumn, one was published article* in The Guardian where a user of the dating service Tinder requested all the data they collected about her. Much to her surprise, she received back an 800-page document. There she could read that she had used the service 920 times and had 870 matches with different people. But is her astonishment at the amount of data really justified? Is it naive to believe anything other than that services collect a lot of data about us as users? I consider that the data collection for a service is fully justified in order for it to be able to deliver the best possible service to me as a user.
How do we do it at Quicksearch?
At Quicksearch, we use information about users to, among other things, direct our surveys to ask the right questions to the right people at the right time and also as a supplement to analyze the results. This can help our customers improve their service which in turn leads to a better user experience for the end customer. The respondent's personal data enables a better relationship between user and service provider. I find the effect that our service can provide very satisfying. That by asking the right questions to the right people, you can help improve a service and drive more sales.
Having said this, I also want to point out that we at Quicksearch are very keen on the data around the respondent. We treat it with high confidentiality and follow all laws and guidelines regarding how it should be handled.
GDPR
When we are on the subject of laws and guidelines around personal data, the new EU directive GDPR will come into force in May this year. The basis of this is clear. Its main task is, among other things, to protect the user and ensure that companies have better control over the data about their users. The big question mark is how it will work in practice. As a user, you must approve how the company handles user data. The service must describe this as clearly as possible so that the user really understands what they are agreeing to.
Going back to the article about the Tinder user who was shocked by her 800 pages and how she reacted to this, I think we may have a problem here. The problem is how to clearly explain how to collect that amount of data. It will probably be even more difficult for the corporate giants such as Google and Facebook, which have very complex services. I think the services have a big challenge ahead of them in terms of concretizing and explaining how they handle user data in a way that even the uninitiated can understand.
In summary
To summarize, I want to give my answer to the title. Yes, I think data collection has gotten an undeserved bad name. Just as I started the text with, I think it is because data collection is usually combined with surveillance. That a service, or even worse society, monitors you as a user. Although I don't want to believe that it is so. The primary purpose of data collection is to improve the service for the user. That's how I see it. Together with GDPR, I can feel even more secure in this. The requirements to protect my user data are tightened, which gives society the opportunity to catch up with technology.
Do you want to know more about how Quicksearch handles personal data according to the GDPR? Contact Us then we will tell you more.
*You will find a link to the article HERE
