Empowering the Digital Identity Revolution: Insights from Glenn Gore, CEO of Affinidi

In an enlightening conversation with Glenn Gore, CEO of Affinidi, we delve into the cutting-edge concepts of zero-party data and Holistic Identity. These ideas stand at the forefront of reshaping how individuals and organizations interact in the digital realm, ensuring privacy and personalization like never before. Gore’s insights illuminate Affinidi’s mission to redefine digital interactions, offering a glimpse into the revolutionary potential these concepts hold for the digital economy, particularly within the vibrant landscape of Singapore.

Explain the concept of zero-party data in layman’s terms and how it differentiates from other data types like first, second, and third-party data? What led Affinidi to focus on this specific type of data exchange?

• Zero-party data encapsulates the preferences and intentions directly shared by individuals, showcasing the diverse aspects of their digital persona. Whether as a gamer, shopper, employee, or sports enthusiast. This information can help identify preferences for interacting with companies and brands. For example, someone identifying as female in their zero-party data could be shown a women’s accessory line by default when they land on a fashion website.
• First-party data refers to the insights a company collects from interactions with an individual, such as a woman’s purchase history on a fashion site. This data is invaluable for understanding customer behaviour on a granular level.
• According to Affinidi, the key to better customer experiences and truly personalised ones is combining zero and first-party data, which combines intent with past action.
  • Sometimes, zero-party and first-party data can be contradictory; in the example above, the same female purchased a list of fashion clothes for men due to an upcoming photo shoot set but would otherwise not prefer to buy men’s clothes.
  • However, the relationship between zero-party and first-party data is important to one another because when they work hand-in-hand, businesses with access to both datasets of their users will be able to gather insights into the user’s behaviour patterns, which is extremely powerful.
  • Looking ahead, data drawn from this relationship between a person’s aspirational view (preferences) and the reality of how they actually behave/interact with a business’s offerings (action) paves the way for companies that want to provide a better customer experience while ensuring privacy.

• Meanwhile, second-party data is information shared between the first party and another, with consent.
• Finally, third-party data is the information collected and sometimes sold to another interested party.
  • The latter is often the type of data from which privacy concerns stem. Data about ourselves has been shared with many other data sets combined and without our knowledge.
  • Not only does this infringe on our privacy, but the inaccuracy of such aggregations can lead to wrong insights for brands, harm the customer experience, and provide inaccurate or irrelevant offerings.
• As we champion the zero-party revolution, steadfast in returning data control to its rightful owners, our resolute commitment to privacy by design remains an unbreakable promise: we do not access customer data.

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Adopting a Holistic Identity solution seems to promise several benefits for organisations. Can you share some specific advantages, perhaps with a case study, of organisations that have successfully implemented this approach?

• As people continue to interact within our increasingly digitalised world, their data points are sprawled across the web, on e-commerce sites and social media platforms, for example, and their data is usually stored on centralised platforms. Holistic Identity reverses this by restoring data ownership data back into the hands of the individual, which also facilitates the consolidation of a person’s once-fragmented data.
• Through Holistic Identity, an individual can discover, collect, store, and manage what specific information they share and who they want to share it with, in exchange for what value. The ability to control and be selective with sharing one’s own data would also provide organisations and businesses with the accurate and reliable data that they need—compared to third-party data that not only breaches privacy but is often outdated and incomplete.
• These insights will give them the edge in refining their research, development, and marketing strategies to align their services and offerings with the individual. This will result in a more personalised customer experience, resulting in a net gain in the relationship.
  • In fact, 96% of marketers agree that personalised experiences lead to repeat business. With accurate and insightful data driving the strategic development of targeted solutions relevant to their audiences, companies can look forward to elevated customer experience, better customer engagement, and stronger brand loyalties.

In today’s cyber landscape, data security and privacy concerns are more pronounced than ever. How does Holistic Identity address these concerns, and what measures does Affinidi take to ensure the robustness of data security within its platform?

Affinidi champions a holistic identity model that only accesses customer data with clear, explicit consent, aligning with the zero-party data principle. This approach reduces liability risks for organisations and ensures compliance with data privacy regulations by minimising the handling of personal identifiable information (PII).

• By returning data control to the owners and minimising stored customer information, organisations decrease their databases’ attractiveness to cyber threats and enhance security by reducing the risk of data breaches.
• Affinidi minimises personal information exposure in its data access practices by employing methods that verify one’s age without needing specific information such as birthdates. This improves the user experience and acts as another layer of defence in the event of a data breach.
• Affinidi’s security infrastructure protects and safeguards data and transactions using robust encryption methodologies and cryptography applications, coupled with modern public key management systems.
• The emphasis on decentralisation plays a pivotal role in our security strategy, inherently reducing various threats and offering superior protection compared to traditional centralised models.
• By harnessing proven decentralised technologies, known for their inherent security through distribution, we employ a multi-layered defence strategy to safeguard each customer’s data comprehensively. Our security measures also extend to solutions such as passwordless authentication, ensuring a more robust defence against potential security threats.

You’ve mentioned that Holistic Identity has applications across various sectors, including Financial Services, Healthcare, and Retail. Could you elaborate on a few key use cases that demonstrate its impact and effectiveness in these industries?

Holistic Identity has universal applicability, seamlessly integrating into diverse sectors such as finance, retail, travel, healthcare, gaming, and e-commerce. These areas are vital components where valuable personal data sits, and when pieced together, provide a comprehensive and holistic, 360-degree view of one’s digital self that unlocks greater value for both data owners and businesses.

Each sector captures unique data segments: banks detail our financial transactions, healthcare providers monitor our health and wellness, gaming platforms gauge our interests and engagement time, and e-commerce sites track shopping habits and preferences. Together, these pieces form a comprehensive view of an individual’s lifestyle. By synthesising these data fragments, we can uncover insightful trends and patterns and offer more personalised value.

• Imagine a scenario where personalised offerings become the norm: users share their fitness data from Strava, health records, and financial information with Nike. This allows Nike to create highly tailored products and services that perfectly match the user’s lifestyle, financial situation, and health goals, demonstrating a deep, data-driven understanding of the customer.
• This approach is not limited to any industry; it’s universally adaptable, enabling organisations across all sectors to forge deeper, more meaningful net relationships with customers by leveraging a holistic understanding of their needs and preferences.

Looking towards the future, how do you see the role of zero-party data and digital identity evolving, especially in the context of Singapore’s digital economy? What challenges and opportunities do you anticipate?

Challenges we face include:

• Persuading individuals to prioritise privacy over convenience is challenging in a world where free services are often exchanged for personal data. Establishing trust with a new brand committed to privacy, security, and data ownership is crucial and complex.
• We are pioneering the large-scale use of advanced technologies such as Decentralised Identifiers (DID), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), etc., which, while promising, bring about new risks that must be carefully managed.
• The relentless speed of technological advancement requires us to be agile and strategic. As generative AI accelerates product development and market entry, we must remain innovative and competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Opportunities:

• In 2022, the total value-add of Singapore’s digital economy was S$106 billion — or 17% of Singapore’s nominal GDP. This is a jump from 13 per cent in 2017, according to the Singapore Digital Economy Report 2023. This rapid growth is largely attributable to Singapore’s steep rate of technology adoption, which grew from 74 per cent in 2018 to 94 per cent in 2022.
• Consumer data privacy is at the forefront, with IDC reports showing that 58% of consumers now demand more control over their data. Moreover, 87% are open to sharing their information if it means gaining tangible benefits like rewards and personalised experiences.
• These trends signal a ripe environment for the widespread acceptance and integration of zero-party data and holistic digital identities, propelling Singapore’s digital economy forward, both locally and globally.
• Empowering individuals with the ownership and control of their data fosters autonomy and opens avenues for innovation in creating tailored customer experiences and even monetising personal data.
• While the move to digitalisation brings increased cybersecurity risks, the proactive use of holistic identity strategies aims to strengthen the overall digital security landscape locally and globally.
• Looking ahead, we’re enthusiastic about the transformative potential of holistic identity solutions in revolutionising Singapore’s digital economy. This evolution promises to catalyse brand growth and deliver deeply personalised experiences, all built on the foundations of consent and privacy.

As we conclude our insightful interview with Glenn Gore, it’s clear that Affinidi is not just at the edge of innovation but is actively crafting the future of digital identity. With a steadfast commitment to empowering individuals through zero-party data and Holistic Identity, Gore envisions a world where privacy, security, and personalized digital experiences coexist harmoniously. The journey ahead is filled with challenges, yet the opportunities within Singapore’s rapidly growing digital economy are immense. Under Gore’s leadership, Affinidi is set to play a pivotal role in this transformative era, steering us towards a more secure, personalized, and privacy-conscious digital future.