Since August 2020, the period when the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) officially came into effect, Brazilian entrepreneurs have been obliged to concern themselves with protecting users' personal data.

This is because the illegal industry of selling data, including sensitive information, has grown exponentially and made it clear that information security should no longer be seen as a cost, but rather as an investment.

In this scenario, several trends related to various areas and activities of companies and individuals aiming to ensure the protection of personal data have emerged. We have compiled the main ones and listed them in the following article. Keep reading and check it out on the CodeBlog.

1. The US as protagonists of the West

It is nothing new that the United States has always been a trendsetter in technology. When it comes to data privacy, it is no different.

Recently, the state of Utah signed its Privacy Act, following the same path as California, Colorado, Virginia, and other states that are close to having their regulations approved.

The country's political power ensures that massive agreements are signed, such as the recently established one with the European Union, which began allowing US companies to process the personal data of citizens from EU member states, as a way to stimulate greater respect for privacy and data protection. Signed in March 2022, the agreement replaced the “Privacy Shield”, repealed in 2021 after several irregularities were reported in the “Shrims II” case.

Even though these proposals are initially elitist, it is only a matter of time before other nations become interested in them. After all, in a globalized world, challenges are also global.

2. Privacy as a differentiator

Several companies have started using privacy as a competitive differentiator in marketing products and services. In fact, Itaú recently began broadcasting campaigns and commercials focused on the protection of personal data.

Since it is a relatively new topic, many users are still unaware of data protection and feel insecure about registering or conducting transactions online.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of companies to create measures to inform people, especially since it is clear that times of uncertainty are likely to persist for a while.

In the future, the market may run over companies that do not operate in compliance and care with personal data. Therefore, it is important for them to start positioning themselves more securely and to rely on data protection professionals working to raise awareness of the topic in society.

3. Privacy platforms

While in the past large companies were managed with simple Excel spreadsheets, today, with tools like ERP, CRM, smart software, Business Intelligence, and cloud computing, this is unimaginable.

The same applies to organizations' privacy management. Many of them, when beginning the process of adapting to global privacy standards, invest in outsourced services focused on legal or information security consulting.

After all, when a business does not have a privacy platform, the compliance result is static, consisting of a series of spreadsheets and documents that will likely need constant maintenance to remain useful.

4. The role of cookies

Indeed, you must have already noticed that, when visiting any website for the first time, you run into a well-known message requesting permission to use cookie tracking.

Cookies offer numerous useful features for websites and applications, and, on their own, they are not the villains of personal data protection.

However, companies can use third-party cookies to store browsing information related to a specific user and aggregate this data to offer promotions across various portals and social networks they use.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you search for a certain service or product on the internet and start being chased by offers for it all the time? Well, one of the techniques that allows this to happen is precisely the processing of personal data through cookies.

Several browser versions will start blocking these types of cookies and, naturally, the trend is that the use of this methodology, when directed at marketing campaigns, will be completely phased out in the coming years.

5. Revolutions in AI (Artificial Intelligence)

The future has undoubtedly already begun. You might not have realized it, but in many places we visit, our faces are captured and analyzed, whether to check if we are in a fugitive database or just to identify if we feel happy or sad when looking at a certain advertisement.

As it turns out, not every facial recognition system respects data protection; in fact, the digital universe is flooded with news of controversies linked to the use of these facial recognition technologies due to the inaccuracy of machine decisions, which rely on examples that do not always reflect reality.

In this sense, it is certain that the use of AI will undergo both technical (in geometric progression) and legislative revolutions. They may not occur that quickly, but they will definitely focus primarily on reducing the impact on the fundamental freedoms and rights of data subjects.

Anyway, did you enjoy discovering the 5 trends on the future of data privacy? In your opinion, which of them is the most promising?

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