Graham's Blog

Privacy & Data Protection UK

I am one of the speakers at this 2 day event on September 3/4 in London.

How does VRM create loyalty and reduce risk?

• ‘Flipping’ CRM to Vendor Relationship Management (VRM)
• Onerous legal responsibilities for organisations
• Benefits of ‘access’ to accurate data, with permission
• Loyalty requires Trust

See you there.

VRM - Threat or Opportunity for CRM?

With Vendor Relationship Management now on the agenda of large public and private organisations, could VRM be set to change market dynamics? Read article.

Government moving towards VRM principals

This is an extract from the intro in The Crosby Report - March 2008  recognising the importance of the individuals inclusion relating to identity assurance which has been the fundamental basis of the PAOGA proposition since 2003.

It’s the consumer’s identity

At an early stage, we recognised that consumers constitute the common ground between the public and private sectors. And our focus switched from “ID management” to “ID assurance”. The expression “ID management” suggests data sharing and database consolidation, concepts which principally serve the interests of the owner of the database, for example the Government or the banks. Whereas we think of “ID assurance” as a consumer-led concept, a process that meets an important consumer need without necessarily providing any spin-off benefits to the owner of any database. This distinction is fundamental. An ID system built primarily to deliver high levels of assurance for consumers and to command their trust has little in common with one inspired mainly by the ambitions of its owner. In the case of the former, consumers will extend use both across the population and in terms of applications such as travel and banking. While almost inevitably the opposite is true for systems principally designed to save costs and to transfer or share data.

The importance of ID systems extends well beyond commercial transactions. In practice, the quality of such systems determines the extent to which many desirable social goals, including border controls and restricting employment to those entitled to work, can be achieved. Indeed, an ID system will only help fulfil national security goals if it achieves mass take up and usage. If citizens don’t use a system regularly, it will be capable of providing very limited data for national security agencies. Thus, even the achievement of security objectives relies on consumers’ active participation."

VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) is the reciprocal of CRM by which organisations collect, store and manage personal information about individuals. This has resulted over the years in data about you and me being held on an average of 1,000 different databases worldwide and, despite the rights and protection afforded by the Data Protection Act, impossible to manage by the individual.
The solution is to provide individuals with the tools and secure personal repository (Digital Safe Deposit Box) to store and manage their personal information and documents, authenticated and certified by appropriate 3rd parties where appropriate, so that accurate data can be 'shared' with public and private organisations with whom they want to have a relationship.
It was heartening to read the amendment to the Data Protection Act voted through by the House of Lords this month which will make it a criminal offence to 'lose' personal information with a potential jail sentence of up to 2 years.
It seems blindingly obvious to me that 'access to up-to-date data with the permission of the individual' is better for all concerned than 'multiple copies of incomplete, inaccurate data on CDs and laptops'. Enlightened organisations are recognising the benefits (costs, risks, and reputation) of VRM  and it is a key topic in many boardrooms. The motives behind those organisations who resist this 2-way relationship with their customers must be questionable.
So CRM is complimented by VRM from which could come CRM (Citizen Relationship Management) eventually morphing into PRM (Personal Relationship Management). Where would the IT world be without more TLA's?

Lose Data and you go to Jail

Interesting article in Computing today.
Lord Erroll is proposing an amendment to the Data Protection Act which covers data controllers in the public sector. "Data controllers need to wake up to the importance of personal data, whether in the public or private sector," he said. The amendments mean tough penalties for losing or trading in data.
If ever there was a reason for organisations to embrace VRM then a 2 year jail sentence is a pretty good incentive.