Data transparency is “the ability to freely access and deal with data regardless of where it is located or what application developed it” and “confidence that data being published are true and come from the official source.” In summary, data transparency gathers data you can trust from numerous sources and presents it in an easy-to-see and easy-to-use format. It provides a bird’s-eye view of what is going on. Nothing can be hidden in the darkness.
Why Data Opacity Is a Problem for Most Businesses
It’s essential mentioning that the existing state of data opacity isn’t always motivated by malice. Most businesses prefer data openness, but they are buried behind a pile of data accumulated to this point. In addition, data management has sometimes kept up with the advancement of technology and data-gathering sites. Finally, many businesses have brushed their data opacity under the rug owing to a lack of resources more than anything else. Clearing the muck of their data feels daunting, if possible. The problem is that a lack of data transparency exacerbates the situation. We are not slowing down our data-collecting rate. The longer businesses need to move toward data openness, the more difficult it will be.
Transparent Data and the Value It Brings to The Business
We collect data to fuel our business and empower our staff. However, we only succeed if data is buried. With a thorough understanding of the data and its sources, one can gain critical insights and avoid succumbing to data bias (an issue we’ve already explored). Without a centralized and accessible data flow, our team is left with fragmented information. They lose the context and other essential elements that should have informed the data. Opacity predisposes them to failure. That may appear excessive but consider an all-too-common case. If any firm has a support line — a client’s account manager who handles issues or a customer care center — data is likely produced every time a client or customer contacts the company with a complaint.
However, data opacity stops such data from reaching the sales team. Another group member, maybe a salesman or a project manager, calls the client or customer the day after they phone to complain. The call will likely go smoothly if the employee is informed of the issue. Data openness creates the groundwork for informed, deliberate action, both with the customers/clients and internally.
Data Transparency’s Legal Importance
Internal data openness might be critical to your company’s success, but you must continue. Global data governance has expanded in the previous five years, and it is now up to your company to comply. Let’s have a look at a few of the more important ones:
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union
The regulation’s Article 12 mainly addresses data openness. The core of it is that if you gather any data from any person in the EU, you are legally compelled to keep it neatly structured and to provide it to the data subject if they want it. With internal data openness, you may be able to meet that need. And it is something other than what you want to happen since GDPR fines are severe.
The Consumer Privacy Act of California (CCPA)
This Act, enacted the same year as GDPR (2018), applies to all California citizens and demands roughly the same level of data disclosure as the EU’s rule. It makes no difference if you live in California. You must comply if the data subject you are collecting information is in California.
SOC 2® (Service Operations Center 2)
Trust service requirements apply to any business that saves customer data in the cloud. It is an assessment method that ensures companies follow best practices and exercise due diligence to secure the data they collect. (As an aside, Toric will be verified this year as a SOC 2-compliant supplier.) Putting data procedures that comply with standards like these can be challenging. However, it can soon become a nightmare if you still need internal data openness. Aside from avoiding fines, there is another advantage to this potential issue. As you increase data openness, you gain your clients’ or customers’ confidence and loyalty.
In conclusion, transparency of data is a continual effort. This transparency should not stop with the initial request; it should extend throughout the relationship. For example, if new procedures expose data to various areas of a business or if a customer’s data is going to be used for reasons other than what they consented to, they should be made aware of it. This transparency contributes to a company’s reputation as a trustworthy entity.
