Since its inception, Big Data has opened up a world of immense possibilities. So much so, that the information gathered provides a holistic appreciation of your customer. Not only that, the breadcrumbs left behind map out a digital persona which takes in aspects of location, sex, job, education, shopping habits, travel, interests together with their political and social preferences.

Automated marketing, Programmatic targeting and Artificial intelligence have all grown in importance because of Big Data. In fact, the basis of these tools’ feasibility is credited to the depth of information Big Data offers. Think of it like a blueprint that feeds into the functionality of the architecture of digital tools. Now the consumer can benefit from a more optimized content consumer experience that allows a better personalized interaction with goods and services as they engage and communicate with digital platforms, devices and social media channels.

In a recent Ad Age article, Shelly Palmer writes: ‘The silver lining to the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal is the fact that you (the brand and customer) are becoming aware of what data you create, what is collected, and how it is used. This is a very good thing’.
This realization puts the brand and customer into a great moment of reflection on how they use digital tools to get work done and generally go through life.

As a brand, the responsibility is crystal clear on the measures to implement when dealing with data and its sources. Checks and balances need to be structured in order to keep the brand ambassadors on the moral side of doing business.

In future, digital and social media laws will be an aspect of increasing priority for both governments and organizations as new challenges emerge with the digital century. As a consumer, the responsibility to be mindful of how you use digital tools should never be underestimated. Giving a website like Facebook access to personal information carries a certain amount of risk, both on your part and the company that stores it. Here then lies the current controversy about social media, because whatever is decided today will shape our digital interactions in future.

Closer to home, we have embarked on a journey to integrate our data notably, sim card details with our national identification cards. The plan is to have passports, driver permits, bank information and health cards all synchronized in this manner.
Collecting and holding on to this data means that the government and private agencies will have a huge obligation in not only protecting it, but also prevent any abuse in its use. However, on a positive note, digital possibilities can offer limitless business opportunities on all fronts.

They say Big Data is the new oil. The more data available the more power to do things that were deemed impossible in the past, thus making people’s lives and the world much easier to live in. It’s all a matter of perspective.