Understanding the Importance of Digital Privacy

Over the past few months, Michael has had a lot of questions about new regulations such as CCPA and GDPR. He wanted to invite someone on the podcast who is knowledgeable about the effects they can have on business, so Kristina Podnar joins him in this episode. She is a digital policy innovator, working with some of the most high-profile companies in the world over the past two decades.

The intersection of personalization and privacy certainly does exist, but Kristina believes that it’s different for every user. She reveals what the safest approach for companies to take towards personalization is, which involves creating a strong partnership with the user.

Michael and Kristina both think it’s important to explain digital privacy to children when they’re young, and both share anecdotes from their own life about this need. After some more discussion about privacy and the young, Kristina brings up what should be kept in mind by people developing organizational policies.

Kristina’s book, The Power of Digital Policy, was released in 2019 and took about two years to write. Technology can be difficult to write about because it is ever-changing, so Kristina talks about how she dealt with this and if we can expect a revised version any time soon.

When asked if digital privacy practices can translate into increased revenue for a business, Kristina says that it absolutely can. We hear about a small company she has been working with that wins contracts over giant companies because of their focus on privacy. This shows that privacy can go beyond just doing the right thing.