"Trust" (Dominique Shelton Leipzig)

TITLE: Trust.: Responsible AI, Innovation, Privacy and Data Leadership
AUTHOR: Dominique Shelton Leipzig
PUBLISHER: Charleston, SC: Forbes Books, 2024, (399 pages).
 

It is not easy to trust what we see today. From Artificial Intelligence to Deep Fake technologies, it is becoming easier to manipulate data for illegitimate ends. With innovation comes the tendency for cheating and criminal activities. Data security is critical to preserve the integrity of businesses and maintain positive public trust. All it takes is a data leak, hacking, systems malfunction, or an infiltration of ransomware, and the corporation's activities easily come to a standstill. According to Dominique Shelton Leipzig, the problem with modern corporate boardrooms is that data management is typically delegated to backroom staff, like data scientists or IT professionals. Some don't know the right questions to ask about their data in the first place. This calls for a more proactive approach when dealing with data and information in the company. Data stewardship cannot be left to consultants, or engineers in the data center, or outsourced to cheaper IT professionals outside. They need to be managed responsibly. Senior management needs to be held accountable. Data breaches and data security lapses cannot be blamed on data center staff. CEOs must take an active interest in the integrity and use of data in their organizations. With more businesses and information being collected and stored both inside and outside the organizations, there needs to be a heightened awareness and responsibility about its collection, management, protection, and usage. Companies of all sizes need a proper data strategy. The thesis in this book is that to re-establish trust in organizations, it is high time for senior management to take leadership of their corporate data as a critical asset. In Leipzig's words, one must "lead with trust." That means three things:

1. Trust cannot be delegated
2. Data leadership cannot be delegated to backroom staff
3. Corporations must do more to build (or rebuild) trust.

Data ethics, privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, etc are increasingly becoming the norm in mainstream society. Without them, society cannot function as the many systems in the world, including the ubiquitous cell phones rely on them. In other words, data permeates society. With that comes the issue of trust. How reliable are they? How accurately do they describe you or your organization? What can we learn from it? Leipzig uses the phrase "post-data" to show us why we need to update our conventional perception of data. Deep learning, generated data from artificial intelligence, business intelligence software, and all kinds of data are now central to how we do business and our way of life. Covering a wide spectrum of society from public to privacy programs, we learn about the tricky balance between private privilege and public trust. The risks of not having a proper data strategy are increasing. One can be charged with negligence as well. Leipzig lists some of the questions that CEOs, privacy officers, security analysts, of the world need to ask. Whether they have the answer is not as important as knowing what questions to ask. Not only will good data strategies protect and preserve a company's reputation, they help in growing the business as well. Many social media companies are already reaping in the benefits of using the data they have. 

Three Thoughts

First, this book links data strategies with the issue of Trust. Why? Companies that have lost customer data due to leaks, hacks, or negligence have come under fire recently. Many have also shelled out millions of dollars to litigation, especially class-action lawsuits. More seriously, even if it is possible, any trust lost can take years to regain. If a company does not take a customer's data seriously enough, why should any customer trust it? Trust nowadays cannot be presumed. If there is one thing that would heal relationships today, it would be the restoration of trust. It is high time to fight back against the falsehood that sinister crooks are propagating. From fake news to abuses of artificial intelligence, more needs to be done to regain the trust lost and to build a culture of goodwill so that we can benefit from data strategies. The author has highlighted an increasingly critical area of our society, something that should not be left to technical experts or IT professionals. Data security is no longer simply an antivirus or some strong firewall applications. It has to be driven from the very top through all layers of any organization. 

Second, Leipzig reminds us of the rising importance of data usage specifically and generally. Specifically, she cautions senior leadership against taking a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to data collection, management, security, and all forms of usage. No longer can senior management simply sit back and leave the data strategies to the technical professionals or even IT consultants. They need to take charge at all levels of management. Failure to do so can be a form of negligence. Apart from corporate situations, this book also speaks to the general public. Individuals should recognize the growing importance of data management and usage. Whether it is about data ethics, security, or information gathering, we all need basic education about the need and usage of any kind of data. Just because we do not have a "data analyst" in our job titles does not mean we are free from adopting a social or ethical data strategy. In that sense, this book is a necessary resource for informing us in our understanding of data and human relationships. People are constantly collecting and sharing information on the Internet. That only increases the need for us to take the data we share seriously. 

Finally, we are all affected by the way companies use our data. Just like all companies are data companies, all persons are data collectors and sharers. We are what we data. The steps that Leipzig gives for corporate environments can be easily applied to individual situations as well. It is a discipline that can provide crossover benefits. One does not need to be in a corporate boardroom in order to take data seriously. The more informed and educated we are about the importance of a data strategy, the better we are at holding companies and organizations accountable for the way they manage what they have. Global companies like Google and FaceBook have our data on their servers. We should be actively concerned with what and how they are using them. If there is any one reason to get this book, it would be to raise our level of data awareness and the need for education on data strategies.

Dominique Shelton Leipzig is a Mayer Brown Privacy & Cybersecurity Partner. Leading Global Data Innovation, she counsels CEOs and Board Members on smart digital governance. She has trained 50,000+ professionals in AI, privacy and cyber. For decades, Dominique has studied legal trends to accurately forecast digital risks and opportunities. Companies, with a collective market cap of 3 trillion USD have benefited from her insights. Trust is her fourth book. Her articles include a Financial Times op-ed concerning cross-border transfers, that the White House adopted. She founded the Digital Trust Summit for leaders to reimagine effective data oversight. Named a Diligent Modern Governance 100 leader and a LA Times “Legal Visionary,” she has won 24 awards. A board member of the AI Governance Center and the International Association of Privacy Professionals, she is certified in privacy and board governance. Dominique is the co-founder of NxtWork, dedicated to diverse leadership.

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Forbes Books via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.