Segment announces new GDPR compliance capabilities
The API-based data platform's new features will help companies wrangle all of a user's data.
In anticipation of the May 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) deadline, API-based data platform Segment has announced that they will be launching new features to help companies to comply.
European citizens will have a slew of enhanced rights under the GDPR, including the right to ask a business to correct, suppress and/or delete their data upon request, which is also known as the “right to be forgotten.”
Segment’s new tools will allow companies to delete customer data with a single keystroke and suppress user data from being tracked. The platform’s existing capabilities already allow companies to compile, update and share all of a user’s data in compliance with the law.
Chris Sperandio, product manager, told me that companies that don’t use a data platform at all are going to be in trouble when the GDPR comes into effect. He said that Segment currently allows companies to see where their customers’ data is going.
“It presents a challenge in light of GDPR, when you are served a data subject access question,” Sperandio said. “You want to make sure that all your bases are covered. Segment solves for that as a unified mechanism which lays out a map where all the data is going.”
The company also hopes the new features will help customers rely less on third-party data, which can cause privacy and security issues. CEO and co-founder Peter Reinhardt said in a release that the company is looking forward to enforcement of the regulation.
“We welcome the GDPR and are excited to help our customers comply with the new requirements.The regulation will raise the bar for honoring end users’ rights, and is aligned with our values. The GDPR is also likely to reduce businesses’ reliance on third-party data sources. Instead, businesses will likely need to leverage their own first-party data to successfully provide a delightful user experience,” Reinhardt said.
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