Data Privacy Week: Kickstand Interview with Nicky Watson

We live the vast majority of our lives online these days. The way we work, communicate with each other, shop, and so on takes place on any number of digital channels – which means the importance of data privacy isn’t an unfamiliar concept to us. Nobody wants their private information falling into the wrong hands!

Data Privacy Week serves as an annual reminder to boost corporate responsibility, transparency into best data practices, and user education. As we prepared to kick off this yearly initiative in 2024, Kickstand sat down with Nicky Watson, Founder and Chief Architect of Cassie (Syrenis Ltd).

Cassie is a consent and preference management platform that enables businesses across the globe to better maintain compliance with ever-changing data privacy regulations. By putting control in the hands of customers, Cassie helps organizations ensure they’re treating user data with the utmost respect.

Here’s what we learned from Nicky:

Nicky, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Given your expertise and experience, what should companies be prioritizing when it comes to data privacy in 2024?

When you’re collecting so many different data points, trust and transparency become the foundation of a responsible business. Companies should prioritize giving users a clear and easily understandable explanation of exactly what data they’re collecting and why.

A configurable consent management platform becomes essential – these allow businesses to both collect consent and preferences and enforce them across their tech stack for a central source of truth. With a commitment to compliance and customization at every touchpoint, businesses can build trust with their customers by safeguarding sensitive information.

Today’s consumers are simultaneously hungry for personalization and concerned about the safety of their data. How can companies balance expectations around personalization and privacy?

Striking the delicate balance between personalization and privacy is a key challenge as consumer expectations evolve. People want to have contextual and relevant digital experiences, but not at the expense of their personal data being sold. Businesses should take advantage of granular preference centers that put the consumer in control of which data they wish to share and which types of communications they’re willing to receive.

By putting the consumer’s preferences first, businesses can then build out compliant personalization strategies that match each individual user’s choices.

Regulatory compliance is an absolute necessity – but it’s also pretty difficult to achieve. What are some common mistakes that can land companies in hot water?

Many companies miss key elements of global data privacy legislation. With so many different regulations now in effect around the world, it can be difficult to maintain compliance at scale for businesses that operate globally.

As companies collect vast amounts of data across different departments or systems, you end up with inconsistencies that lead to messages being sent unlawfully. We’ve seen enterprise brands forced to pay huge fines for failing to provide full opt-out functionality or sending out communications like texts or emails to contacts that had unsubscribed.

Businesses need robust consent management platforms that can collect and validate data across tech stacks to ensure compliance at every touchpoint.

Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us, Nicky! Where can people follow you and stay up to date on all things Cassie?

Of course! You can connect with me on LinkedIn, and check out Cassie’s blog for some more in-depth reading on Data Privacy Week.