In case you haven’t heard, October is cybersecurity awareness month! This episode of Unboxing Logistics focuses on the importance of cybersecurity in the ecommerce space.

What are the risks? What responsibilities do businesses have to protect consumer privacy? Iskander Sanchez-Rola, director of privacy innovation at Gen, joins Lori to answer these questions and more.

Web tracking—good or bad?

Web tracking involves monitoring and collecting data about users' online activities. Tracking can have visible results (like targeted ads), but it’s also used in the background for data analysis or data sharing between companies.

So, is web tracking bad? Not necessarily. As Iskander explains, everything comes down to choice and transparency. “I'm not explicitly saying that web tracking is bad, because it's not. What we are saying is that we should allow the users to decide what is happening.”

The consequences of neglecting cybersecurity

Though Iskander is quick to point out that he’s not a legal expert, he knows that neglecting cybersecurity is never a good idea. If an ecommerce store doesn’t protect their customers’ personally identifiable information (PII), they can face major legal repercussions—not to mention a damaged reputation. 

Is your data secure?

Sometimes, business owners aren’t sure if their sites are secure—with cookie ghostwriting, it can be hard to tell if third parties are tracking user data. Iskandar recommends digging deep and looking for signs of unusual activity on the backend of your site.

If bad actors do get away with tracking user data via your site, you could be in trouble. “[The trackers are] not controlled by you, which means they can … attack the privacy of your customers.”

Links

• Connect with Iskander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iskander-sanchez-rola/ 
• Visit Gen’s website: https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/