The Role of AI in Ensuring Data Privacy Posted on : Mar 24 - 2020

With artificial intelligence (AI) now used in many of the apps that drive the digital workplace, many enterprise managers are beginning to question the implications this will have for privacy. This is not just speculation though. There is a good deal of research that indicates just how deep AI has dug into the technology that is in place to protect customers and app users’ privacy and, by extension, the enterprise itself. The 2019 Gartner Security and Risk Survey, which was conducted from March 2019 through April 2019, showed that over 40% of privacy compliance technology will rely on AI by 2023, up from 5% in 2019.

The result is that privacy leaders are under pressure to ensure that all personal data processed is brought in scope and under control, which is difficult and expensive to manage without technology aid.

In fact, it is these very considerations that are driving enterprise leaders to act and adapt AI. Speed, scale and automation are the key reasons why AI has become attractive for businesses and customers, said Ben Hartwig, chief security officer at InfoTracer. The quantity of data that AI can raise is bigger than what human analysts are capable of. This is the only way to process big data in a reasonable time frame. “One of the reasons why privacy is a big concern here is the fact that people are not familiar with the measures they can use to protect it even if there are some principles that can help with protecting ourselves,” he said. These include ensuring that:

• AI systems can be easily perceived.
• Consumers are to opt out of the system.
• Data can be deleted upon consumer request.

"Our loss of privacy is another example of how digital technologies such as AI can work to our detriment,” he added.

AI in  Privacy

So, what role will AI play in privacy? According to Geoff Webb, VP of strategy at PROs, there are three areas where we will see AI taking a central role in privacy and data governance, now and in the future.

Privacy Concierge: First, AI bots can provide a “privacy concierge” function in which they can recognize, route and service privacy data requests faster and more cheaply than humans, in much the same way that other AI bots handle increasingly complex requests today. View More