It’s along way to work for me. Oxfordshire B roads, M40, M42, Toll Road, M6, M56, M53, A55 and a trip through the Chester Business Park…this is not a journey at the end of which you want to discover you’ve left your Company ID pass behind…
Through our security gate, pass and picture ready, quick cup of coffee (fresh, not machine, so I don’t need to remember the code) and then the blissful wait for Microsoft to grudgingly acknowledge your identity credentials at log in and deliver the morning email.
Security is vital to us at GB and we take the responsibility we have to manage the customer and individual identity data incredibly seriously, but by God, it can cramp your style. We have processes for system access, processes for view, rules for deletion, compliance for suppliers, guidelines for access for cleaners, shredders that could be used to invade Poland… and a regular stream of security audits from data partners like BT and Royal Mail as well as customers from all walks of industry. As we’re one of the few companies that have completed ISO27001 for Information Security, we are able to share best practise with some very large clients and partners.
So, all this increased security is part and parcel of our corporate world now. I remember the publicity associated with the data loss at HMRC two years ago and a trail of lost data file stories that followed it. At GB we hold and consolidate data that individuals, suppliers and customers trust us to manage and we simply can’t fail in this duty. However, across the very small digital divide Google is gathering data on individuals that isn’t consented. Young people are presenting details relating to their true identity on Facebook that their parents don’t know. Amazon is trying to sell you books based on the profile of that Mills & Boon romance you bought your granny last year…
We’ve all got along way to go to understand how we as individuals also keep ourselves both safe and properly represented in our digital identities. This is an area where control will increasingly pass to the individual. We’ll see progress in this transition with emerging technologies like OpenID or the iCard and at GB we’re looking to be at the forefront of the progress to personal identity management. The “winning technology” hasn’t emerged yet, but we are seeing small projects and pilots that will drive the transition towards a world where the consumer manages what data he or she releases to what organisation. That will be a challenge for the marketing departments of the future!
In the meantime, GB is a company you can trust to look after your data…and if you need to know anything about the M6, I’m your man!
Nick