Data Strategy articles from February 2009

Data Strategy archives from February 2009

LEADER: Playing your cards fairly.
February 16, 2009... Are credit card companies guilty of unfair processing? Media reports of customers facing shock rises in their APR are widespread, with many consumers feeling antagonised by lenders at a time of historically low interest rates. Perceiving...

Lords call for review of data consent laws.
February 16, 2009... The House of Lords Constitution Committee has called for a review of the law regarding consent to the use of personal data by both public and private sector organisations. In its report, "Surveillance: Citizens and the State", the committee...

IN BRIEF: Anonymous browser opens up US sites.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... A new web browser has been launched that gives European consumers the ability to browse US-based websites anonymously without being denied access to content and functions. SurfSolo from IT security specialist SecurStar uses a proxy server...

Experian cuts ties to controversial Lord.
February 16, 2009... Experian moved quickly to end its involvement with Lord Taylor of Blackburn last month following newspaper allegations that the Lord had claimed to influence legislation on their behalf. The credit rating agency said it was "surprised by the...

ICO forces Home Office into DPA undertaking.
February 16, 2009... The loss of an unencrypted memory stick holding sensitive personal details of thousands of individuals last August has resulted in the Home Office being found in breach of the Data Protection Act. The Information Commissioner's Office has...

IN BRIEF: BCS launches data centre qualification.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... The British Computer Society is developing a new qualification aimed at data centre operators. This follows the introduction of an EU Code of Conduct for data centres (Data Strategy, December 2008) that emphasises the need to control power...

Data Protection principles overturned.
February 16, 2009... Information sharing orders proposed in the Coroners and Justice Bill are claimed to cancel all rules of confidentiality. According to the pressure group NO2ID, "it is about to convert the Data Protection Act into its exact opposite, a means...

Data breach costs soar to #60 per record.
February 16, 2009... The average cost per record of a data security breach rose to #60 last year, up 28 per cent from #47 in 2007. Ponemon Institute, a privacy and information management research firm, with PGP Corporation, an enterprise data protection...

IN BRIEF: Cotswold Outdoor pegs out web analytics.(Brief article)
February 16, 2009... EuroSpecialist retailer Cotswold Outdoor is enhancing its web analytics capabilities by working with Coremetrics. The supplier will deliver behavioural data and customer interaction measures across the retailer's website and online marketing....

Risk management launched by Lockton.
February 16, 2009... The world's largest privately-held insurance broker, Lockton, has launched two new risk management services aimed at dealing with the risk of outsourcing and corporate responses to data breaches. They reflect the increasing use of offshore and...

DATA QUALITY: Poor B2B marketing data follows rule of 10.
February 16, 2009... Failure to address data quality issues in marketing data used by B2B organisations can lead to a tenfold escalation in costs and lost opportunities. According to US-based research firm SiriusDecisions, there is a 1-10-100 rule at work. ...

DATA QUALITY IN BRIEF: Electoral Roll grows by one per cent.
February 16, 2009... The overall size of the Electoral Roll has increased by one per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year. At the same time, however, opt-outs from the edited ER rose by 4.3 per cent, taking the total to 43.2 per cent, according to Equifax....

DATA QUALITY: Trillium integrates with Cordys BPM.
February 16, 2009... Harte-Hanks Trillium Software and Cordys Software have joined in a worldwide technology alliance of their data quality and business process innovation software solutions. The aim of the alliance is to help clients to incorporate batch and...

Balancing useful data and confidentiality.
February 16, 2009... Never before has the NHS had access to so much data. But with this comes the responsibility to assess and respond to the threats that surround both integrity and confidentiality, on the one hand, while ensuring that NHS can continue to respond...

LETTER: Invest in people for data security.(Letter to the editor)
February 16, 2009... Never before have consumers been so keenly aware of the issues of data governance and I found your article "Building a better data future" (Data Strategy, January 2009) raised some very pertinent issues on the subject. It is true that...

LETTER: Outsourcing for a better view.(Letter to the editor)
February 16, 2009... Unravelling the definition of a single customer view provoked interesting debate in your feature, "Get a better view" (January 2009). It won't come as a surprise to many that developing and maintaining a permanent single customer view in a...

Data quality, not data quantity.
February 16, 2009... Data quality has never been so important. The current economic situation has tightened spending and put the customer firmly in the driving seat. In response, approaches to customer management have also started to adapt. Retention...

LETTER: All three is the magic number.(Letter to the editor)
February 16, 2009... People, processes or technology? Where should you invest to get the best from your data (Data Strategy, January 2009)? The answer is, all three - and in that order. Creating a Data Life Plan for your business should be a strategic...

HOW TO AVOID THE AXE: A job for life, or only this year?
February 16, 2009... The data industry has survived other recessions relatively unscathed, but this downturn is global. As companies take more time over investment decisions, demand for data analysts that add value will remain steady. However, only quality...

MARKETING DATA SURVEY: Time to trust in data.(Company overview)
February 16, 2009... In the current economic climate data has the perfect opportunity to prove its worth. As our survey of data professionals clearly shows, companies are investing more time and resources in the medium. David Reed considers the results If...

DATA QUALITY: Correct, but only one at a time?(Company overview)(Survey)
February 16, 2009... More organisations are setting up data quality programmes to ensure they get the best out of their existing customer and prospect data assets. As David Reed finds out, companies are starting to realise this is an area worthy of attention and...

CRM: Experience matters.
February 16, 2009... Coming up with a clear definition of what customer experience means, and quantifying the good and the bad is not as easy as it may seem. David Reed looks at how differing organisations are coming to grips with this issue Customer...

THE BACK ROOM: Gathering momentum.(Interview)
February 16, 2009... Data Strategy talks to data practitioners who toil unnoticed behind the scenes Q What is your name and job title? Bradley Pargiter, head of analytics and consultancy, Acquity. Q What does your job involve? Is there a lot of...

THE BOTTOM LINE: Milking a good headline.
February 16, 2009... Understanding when correlation is causal and not merely coincidental is one of the key issues within data analytics. Frequently, variables can be found that always occur together, but which are not directly linked. Membership of a golf club...