Reclaim your privacy
Thoughts on Reclaim Your Privacy campaign, Omidyar Network India's push for open digital ecosystem and data for good
According to this week’s screen time data - YouTube is my second most used mobile app. Spotify is the fourth most used app. My smartphone is just an entertainment device. I am happy to trade it with the good old Apple iPod’s.
The days when downloading songs were cool. Music listening was an effort and hence made it more priceless. Obviously, that meant supporting piracy.
How many of you remember recording songs on cassettes? ₹10 for 10 new songs.
Today I switch between three music apps - Gaana, Spotify, and YouTube. I prefer the paid version of Gaana because the music quality is really good and the Indian music catalog is massive. Spotify for the pure love of global music discovery and YouTube for the rare gems that independent creators upload.
Such as Andre Soueid’s debut album with Jad Halal 10 Years Later is pure dope. At 3:56 Andre’s violin takes your heart and slices your pain one beat at a time. Just like how you sharpen your pencil with a blade. Don’t miss the view live from Lebanon.
Andre is also present on Spotify. While coming back from my run I was listening to the tracks on repeat mode. Since I use the free version of Spotify I have to consume the audio ads. Some make sense and some are utter crap. The same way marketers use to push TVC’s on social media. Then came the madness of digital-first.
Reclaim Your Privacy
Anyway, the ad that got me interested, or rather puzzled is from Reclaim Your Privacy.
The ad starts with a voiceover saying “Presenting the amazing data masters” and it goes on talking about the personality traits, buying behaviour, social interest, and before I could get a grip of the ad. The ad finishes by saying, “Can we have the bid to 2 rupees.”
Ideally, I wouldn’t have bothered about the ad but this one kept on spoiling my music listening, and out of curiosity, I checked the ad and the brand associated. An ideal consumer wouldn’t have bothered.
The 30 seconder ad was pushed on Spotify. It is a classic example where agencies or marketers who don’t understand how platforms work, instead keep spilling money in the name of targeting consumers on different mediums. The 30-second video ends with a call to action but since it was never created for an audio platform, there is no call to action, not even what it is about.
After you have seen the 2-minute video cut you understand what is the bidding all about. The connection between data brokers and the justification of 2 rupees. And why data being used without your explicit permission is a violation of privacy.
According to a Medium post #ReclaimYourPrivacy works to empower people with relevant information that helps them safeguard their digital selves. “Data collection becomes a problem when it involves sensitive and personal data. Sensitive data includes your medical history, political beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. while personal info includes your email address, mobile number, home address, or even your bank information. This data is then collected by data miners who sell it to the highest bidder. And it can go for as cheap as Rs. 2!”
Our proposition is simple: why not attempt to live online like you do in real life? In real life, you choose who knows where you are at any given moment. You decide whom to share your secrets with. When you sell something of yours, like your car, or your art, you set the conditions. When you shut your door, you enjoy the privacy of your home. With agency. With privacy.
The initiative to help you be an empowered internet used is a joint effort by 21N78E and Aapti Institute, supported by Omidyar Network India.
With the growing debate of trolling on social media, the initiative also has a two minutes long music video. The troll changed after listening to his dad’s voice. It just went above my head.
Besides the initiative needs to realign the communication and digital strategy. Just with the help of 2-3 videos, the initiative cannot survive. In fact, I already find it a bit lost on social media. It is a cause initiative that needs to last on content right now all it looks like another brand campaign.
Open Digital Ecosystem
Omidyar Network India has been at the forefront of pushing their agenda of India’s Data Economy. Last year in association with Deloitte it had released an extensive report on practices, privacy, and governance.
The first of its kind study analyses data practices and governance by private enterprises that are shaping India’s data revolution. The report also has key recommendations to entrepreneurs, investors, and regulators to turn data privacy into core business and regulatory issue.
I really liked how the report outlines a simplified version of personal data collection and how it is used to creating online profiles. While marketers would love it but as a consumer where is my right on my own data?
Having an open digital ecosystem has become a need and Roopa Kudva, MD of investment firm Omidyar Network India has been pretty vocal about the matter. In a recent conversation, with Sunday Express that on the lines of Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) India can have 10 such national ODEs in various sectors can collectively create a new economic value of $500 billion by 2030.
“Health is something that has been announced. We already know India Stack. The other one is something called DIKSHA in the education sector, and it’s essentially an open digital public infrastructure, which has all kinds of educational content on it.
The other open digital ecosystem platform that’s been built using those principles is something called the National Urban Innovation Stack. The other interesting one which is under construction under this National Urban Innovation Stack is something called the India Urban Data Exchange. It’s being piloted by Pune, as well as the National Open Learning Platform.”
The conversation of data and privacy becomes important for two reasons, especially with the massive adoption of digital due to pandemic privacy becomes a concern. All the more when Indians are rarely concerned about online privacy and the growing need for data protection law.
Globally data exchange for free services is also being preferred. “41% of global consumers prefer to exchange their personal data for free services rather than pay for those services to safeguard their data,” says the GWI’s Connecting the dots 2021 report.
Additionally, consumer understanding of online data sharing may not be increasing says Deloitte. “Declining concern about data privacy might also be due to a lack of understanding: the mechanisms via which data is uploaded, processed, and shared online may be unfathomable to most users.”
In 2020, only 40 percent of phone owners stated that they shared their phone number online, but 60 percent of adults use WhatsApp weekly or more frequently. This cleft suggests that a sizeable proportion of UK users may not comprehend fully what data is being shared.
The exchange of data also fuels the way the internet runs. In my case, I am using the free app of Spotify and it is possible because the music streaming app is running ads that are targeted to me. Some are idiotic but some do add value. The problem happens when you wake up to realise the impact of the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.
Or the latest episode of Facebook’s political bias in India. Indian parliament with the standing committee on information technology (IT) set to meet representatives of the social media platform for a second time on 15 December. The panel is likely to raise concerns over political bias, content regulation, and data safety.
The company has been under scrutiny ever since The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on 14 August that it ignored internal recommendations to remove hate speech by a Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker.
Facebook claims its content moderation policy is unbiased and does not favour any political party. YAWN!!!
The debate on reclaiming your privacy also becomes crucial at a time when India has been expecting the much needed Data Protection Law. Will the new law(whenever it comes into place) trigger surveillance fears or propel the growth and economy in the country needs to be seen.
By the way, have you ever wonder how many people actually read Terms & Conditions?
Only 1%.
I belong to the 99% community.