ACC Privacy, Data Security, and E-Commerce Committee Meeting Sponsored By Greenberg Traurig LLP: "Privacy and Data Sharing: Benefits, Concerns and How Companies Can Protect Themselves When Sharing" (Palo Alto)

Concerned your company might end up in the headlines due to unforeseen data privacy issues? If so, you are not alone.

Most would agree that data sharing can make life easier for companies and consumers in many ways. In fact, a company’s success can be tied to their monetization of consumer data regardless of whether they are a tech company or traditional non-tech company (e.g., manufacturers, logistics, etc.). For example, data sharing allows companies to know who their users are on each device by cross-referencing that information with content viewing habits, shopping behavior, purchase habits and more. Companies can then share that information to allow affiliates, business partners and other companies to push targeted product recommendations, upsells, and promotions which are all geared to a consumer’s precise interests and shopping patterns. However, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, such free data sharing presents companies with challenges in deciding when they should share data, how, and for what purposes.

During this panel discussion we will briefly discuss the benefits and concerns surrounding data sharing. We will then address some specific issues companies are regularly facing in data sharing contracts and via APIs, and the steps in-house counsel can take to obtain the benefits of sharing while protecting the company from exposure in the future.