Data trends: Adatree co-founder Jill Berry on what to expect in 2023

Consumer awareness

In 2023, consumers will definitely be more aware of their data sharing — which companies are asking for it and what obligations that company has to protect their data. It is absolutely appropriate to ask a company that is collecting your data about its deletion and security practices. Especially ones that are asking for personal data like banking statements or utility bills. For example, rental tenants are now more likely to think about what their property agent does with their identity and banking data once they’ve been approved for the property.

Business awareness

On the flip side, businesses are starting to look at their security and data storage. And while that’s a question of ‘how’ they’re storing data, the greater considerations should be what is collected and why?

Companies will be looking to avoid being a honeypot of data and will rethink how they need to get to outcomes. Do they really need to store all the raw data that confirms someone’s affordability? Or can they simply receive an insight to confirm it?

Innovative use cases

Consumer Data Rights (CDR) will see some use cases come to life that enable major benefits to Australians, like using a consumer’s electricity consumption data to help them identify the right solar panels and batteries to confidently transition to a tailored renewable energy solution.

The current financial climate has Aussies looking for the best deal in the market, and regulated data sharing is uniquely positioned to enable this, with the added benefit of peace of mind at a time when consumers are acutely aware of security.

Vigilance around personal data security

I think we’ll also see consumers being a lot more engaged in maintaining their personal security practices. One of the simplest ways to protect your data is to update your passwords — particularly for your online banking.

Millions of Australians have unknowingly shared their banking login with third-party software when applying for a mortgage or credit check. And those ‘screen scraper’ companies continue to access our banking transaction data on an ongoing basis.

CDR will fix that but until screen scraping is banned, Australians need to stay vigilant and regularly change their passwords.

Jill Berry is co-founder and CEO of Adatree, a technology company that enables Australian consumers to exercise their consumer data rights.