Data Tracking – a necessary part of business or invasion of privacy

Owners of smart phones were up in arms recently at the disclosure that some smart phones carried
a hidden app which apparently tracked every keystroke and website visit. Cases were fast tracked
in to the US courts claiming invasion of privacy and chat forums were awash with concerned
smartphone owners.

In their defence the smartphone telephone companies advised that either they didn’t use the app
or that if they did the app was simply used to identify and correct network faults; meaning the app
was helping to retain a good signal for consumers. For example Apple said that it had stopped
supporting the app and planned to eliminate it altogether.

The whole debate has raised the issue of when retaining and tracking client data is a necessary part
of the business process and at what stage it steps over the boundaries into invasion of privacy. This
question is particularly apt in the IT and telephony fields, given the advances in technology in the
past few years. For example, those businesses which have taken steps to install virtual switchboards
now have a wealth of additional features at their fingertips.

One obvious case in point is the ability to record and store copies of telephone conversations.
Originally mainly used for training or compliance purposes, businesses have become increasingly
aware of the value of recording calls for marketing and business protection. Recording and storing
calls electronically (MARR) is far more cost effective than the old way of recording onto tape and
therefore calls are being recorded with greater frequency. Whilst the recording of calls is subject to
regulation, there can be a fine line between legitimate business use and invasion of privacy.

Call recording is no the only advantage which technology has brought us. Aligning the virtual
switchboard with UK and International phone numbers means that callers can have the impression
that they are calling a local number whilst businesses can divert that call to anywhere in the world.
Setting the switchboard to recognise and divert calls based on area code or even individual number
allows businesses to flexibly manage their inbound calls; diverting or responding with a personalised
message as appropriate.

Underpinning these and other virtual switchboard features is the ability to collate statistics
on ingoing and outgoing telephone use. This will help to judge the effectiveness of marketing
campaigns, structure employee time and fine tune your telephone offering. EU legislation early in
2011 required web site clients to “opt in” to having information retained about their visits. Let us
hope that when it comes to telephone contact the existing legislation is deemed to be sufficient
and that rows such as that generated by the smart phone app won’t stop businesses from using
technology to improve customer service.