In June I received an e-mail from Microsoft informing me that at the end of July, I could upgrade my Windows 8.1 operating system to the new Windows 10—for free! But of course, nothing is free, outside of hugs from Grandma. In what is starting to snowball into a PR disaster for Microsoft, just hours after release the blogosphere brimmed with articles condemning Microsoft's "data grab."
Windows 10 collects (and sells) information about your every keystroke, websites you visit, passwords, purchases you make, the music and web content you stream, IMs or online conversations, events in your calendar, the content in your private folders, and much more. Some bloggers have disparaged Windows 10 as spyware.
Now, all Microsoft is trying to do is what almost every other company on the planet is trying to do; better understand how its customers use its product. And, most (though not all) of this data-sharing can be manually turned off. Windows 10 is, for Microsoft, its Google or Facebook strategy: we give you something for free, in exchange for which we collect any and all data you input.
The problem for Microsoft with its rollout of Windows 10 is multifold:
• The Windows OS is a decades old legacy product familiar to customers. Microsoft is suddenly changing the game.
• Microsoft did disclose the data collection – in the fine print, which few read. I suspect many customers were shocked to learn (from the popular press) the access permissions Windows 10 grants itself on your PC. Fine print may work for lawyers, but is generally not an effective marketing tool.
• And Microsoft has only provided vague assurances that it can be a trusted custodian of all that personal data.
The lesson here for banks and insurers similarly trying to develop a data relationship with their customers is that they also face the challenge of changing how customers interact with their legacy products, and effectively communicating those changes to customers. And given the sensitive nature of customer data they oversee, financial services companies need to lead the charge on data security and privacy rights advocacy for their customers, across industries and borders.
The kind of long-term data relationship that banks and insurers seek with their customers requires trust and transparency—not fine print. Customers have very different relationships with their bank, Starbucks, Microsoft and Google. Why wouldn't the data policies of each reflect the realities of that relationship?
Tomek Jankowski is Lead Senior Analyst for Financial Services Consulting Research, KCRA.
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