According to a worldwide survey, customers are unwilling to share their data with companies due to lack of information about how this data might be used. Being transparent about data usage is key for marketers who wish to collect customer data.
The EU law stipulates that personal data can only be gathered legally under strict conditions and for a legitimate purpose. Marketers and organizations who collect and manage personal data must protect it from misuse and respect the rights of the data owners guaranteed by EU law. Data collection still remains a controversial subject for customers. A survey conducted by Edelman based on 34K people worldwide shows that 58% of the respondents do not use digital services because of privacy concerns. This shows that there is obviously lack of trust from the clients and lack of information about how this data is used.
Nowadays, many websites, applications, companies, etc. require access to clients’ personal data like name, surname, email address, phone number, date of birth, and gender. The main problem is that people are often afraid to share their data because they don’t know how it will be used by the company and for what purpose. In fact, the report shows that 71% of respondents believe that companies access their personal data for unethical purposes (such as reselling data, sharing data with other companies, spamming, etc…).
Consumers are unwilling to share their data but their information is necessary for marketers that adopt predictive technologies to offer relevant content and contextual advertising for their clients, by analyzing their past behavior.
One example of predictive technology is the globally spread use of cookies to personalize the web content and perform logins to a website or e-commerce. Cookies use the data collected in the past from clients’ browsers to identify them, remember their login data, and customize their web content. Another example of using data in a proper way is the identification of returning users to a Wi-Fi network. A phone’s MAC address is saved into a database so that returning users are automatically identified and reconnected to the Wi-Fi network the next time they are in that location, for a “Wi-Fi like at home” experience.
Jonathan Hargreaves, the global vice-chair of Edelman’s technology practice, says that “[predictive] technologies are powerful and […] can do good things if they are used in an appropriate way”. For this reason, marketers and companies have had to invest more and more in predictive technologies to better understand the customer, instead of basing their strategies only on the data collected with the cookies. The amount of data companies ask for must be proportionate to the advantage of their providing. So, if a fashion brand asks users to provide info about their purchasing habits, users may be more interested in sharing insights about themselves if they can get something valuable in exchange, i.e. a discount coupon.
By being more transparent about privacy and by offering relevant content to customers, marketers and companies can become more trustworthy and encourage customers to share their data.
OpenSignal released a report about the amount of time smartphone users worldwide spend on Wi-Fi. Based on results, people in developed mobile countries prefer Wi-Fi over 3G/4G, especially when data is expensive and limited.
According to the Global State of Mobile Networks report carried out by OpenSignal, a company that focuses on wireless coverage mapping, smartphone users in almost all developed countries spend more time on Wi-Fi networks rather than 3G/4G mobile ones. The findings refer to data points collected from 822,556 users across 95 countries. Let’s have a look at the main aspects that determine why users prefer connecting to the internet through Wi-Fi instead of using a cellular network.
Wi-Fi availability
The report’s “Time on Wi-Fi” graph shows that developed mobile markets, like the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany and Belgium, are at the top positions in the list meaning they are more keen to use Wi-Fi over 3G/4G. The Netherlands, in particular, top the list as users spend 70% of their time on Wi-Fi. The main reason for this is that broadband service providers in these countries are supplying millions of Wi-Fi hotspots. For instance, Ziggo, the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, provides 1.9 million Wi-Fi spots throughout the country. On the contrary, the majority of developing markets do not always benefit from a fixed wireless broadband and in many cases they lack of Wi-Fi provision. This aspects explain why countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia rank at the bottom of the survey.
Mobile data prices
In countries where mobile data is expensive, the cost for GB offered in mobile plans can be higher than a broadband connection. Accordingly, users can save money taking advantage of Wi-Fi. This is why internet users in countries like the Netherlands and Germany spend 70% and 62%, respectively, of time on Wi-Fi, although they are provided with high speed and well-performing 3G and 4G networks.
Data limitation
The amount of accessible data is another relevant aspect that determines the amount of time users spend on Wi-Fi. In countries where operators have restrictive caps on mobile data and charge you extra if you exceed the monthly bandwidth cap, people take advantage of wireless networks. For instance, Canadian smartphone users spend 60% of their time on Wi-Fi and as a result, the country ranks 10th. On the contrary, countries like Finland and Switzerland adopt unlimited data, meaning they are free from caps and therefore spend less time on Wi-Fi networks. In Sweden, in particular, users only spend 42% of their time on Wi-Fi and the country ranks only 68th, very far from the other Nordic countries – all ranking in the first 25 positions of the list – and close instead to undeveloped countries such as Nepal and Oman.
Based on this report, it can be said that Wi-Fi seems to be a valuable choice among smartphone users at worldwide level compared to 3G and 4G, especially in countries where mobile connectivity is lacking and mobile data is overpriced and limited.
Security experts warn owners of specific models of Netgear routers to discontinue their use, as they are vulnerable to a simple hack.
Netgear recently reported that according to end users, various router models such as R7000, R6400, and R8000, are vulnerable to hackings, and other models such as R7000P, R7500, R7800, R8500 R9000 are already being affected by them. This Friday, a researcher reported that a critical bug in the hardware is allowing attackers to run commands from remote, as privileged users, so that they can access a user’s LAN and also change their network DNS settings.
Netgear has not issued a public fix yet but has reported the vulnerability in the R8000, R7000, and R6400 router models.
Virgin Media is acquiring Arqiva Wifi to expand its wireless network reach and connectivity throughout the UK.
Virgin Media will soon be striking a deal to bring in Arqiva Wi-Fi into Virgin’s corporate fold as a part of Virgin Media Business. Arqiva WiFi is one of the largest Wi-Fi solution providers in the UK, with 31,000 Wi-Fi access points installed in 6,500 UK locations (including 250 London Underground stations). By acquiring Arqiva Wi-Fi, it is highly likely that Virgin Media will become one of the largest public Wi-Fi providers in the UK. (more…)
Facebook is allegedly developing a censorship tool in order to enter the Chinese market. This tool will allow third-party Chinese companies to have total control over content, by selecting the information users can share online.
Facebook is reportedly developing a censorship tool in order to break into the Chinese market. Although no official confirmation has been released, it seems the social network is interested in expanding its business to the country with the highest number of Internet users. (more…)
Nowadays, hacking attacks that threaten Wi-Fi network security are the order of the day.
In order to prevent malicious users from accessing networks and sensitive data, such as email password and bank account information, administrators should effectively improve their wireless network security by regularly changing their APs’ username and password, and configuring them with password-protected SSIDs.
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One example of predictive technology is the globally spread use of cookies to personalize the web content and perform logins to a website or e-commerce. Cookies use the data collected in the past from clients’ browsers to identify them, remember their login data, and customize their web content. Another example of using data in a proper way is the identification of returning users to a Wi-Fi network. A phone’s MAC address is saved into a database so that returning users are automatically identified and reconnected to the Wi-Fi network the next time they are in that location, for a “Wi-Fi like at home” experience.
Facebook is allegedly developing a censorship tool in order to enter the Chinese market. This tool will allow third-party Chinese companies to have total control over content, by selecting the information users can share online.