• 14 February, 2021
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The 3 main benefits of PDPA for your business

Rather than zoom in on the burden of obligation, organizations stand to gain when they underscore the benefits of PDPA for their business.

From our many years of speaking with decision-makers in various organizations with regard to PDPA compliance and whatnot, we’ve profiled the three personas that typically face us:

1. Those who truly grasp both benefits of PDPA and their obligations.
2. Those who are aware of the provisions but have yet to comply fully.
3. Those who are vaguely aware of and are yet to flesh out everything within the PDPA provisions.

Also Read: Advisory Guidelines on Key Concepts in the PDPA: 23 Chapters

While the doom-and-gloom approach works to quickly propel organizations towards compliance (i.e., informing them of potential hefty fines for violations), we believe a paradigm shift in looking at the scenario can help bring that long-term change from the top management down to the individuals of the organization.

When implementation is viewed in light of benefits rather than penalties, it can nurture a positive sentiment among the decision-makers, regular employees, and stakeholders in the organization.

A quick recap on the application of the PDPA provisions

The PDPA comprises personal data kept in electronic and non-electronic forms. The data protection groundwork in the PDPA (parts III to VI) typically do not apply to the following:

• Any person acting on a personal or domestic basis.
• Any company staff acting in the course of their terms of work with an organization.
• Any public agency or a company in the process of acting on behalf of a public agency with regard to the collection, use or disclosure of the personal data. A list of definite guidelines can be found here.
• Business contact details. This pertains to a person’s name, designation name or title, business contact number, business address, business email address or business fax number, and any other similar details about the person, not supplied by the person solely for his or her personal purposes.

These provisions are meant to be the basic law that works as part of the law of Singapore. It does not supplant current statutes, like the Banking Act and Insurance Act but will work in conjunction with them and the common law.

Departments and teams within an organization must have a clear understanding of both obligations and benefits of implementing PDPA.

Why should you implement today? Three main benefits of PDPA

Surely, one obvious benefit that many companies acknowledge is the avoidance of paying a hefty fine. Nothing wrong with that. Today, however, allow us to present three main benefits of carrying out PDPA within your organization that go beyond getting penalized.

1. Greater transparency and gives you greater control – both on the business-facing and client-facing fronts

When implementation is in full swing, the process of gathering personal data is clear-cut. On the business-facing front, this creates a synergy from the senior managers down to the regular employees. On the client-facing front, clients will understand the intentions of the data collection and will be guaranteed that personal details collected will only be used for this reason and not for other purposes that are not clearly stated or informed to the customer at the moment of data collection.

Also Read: Key PDPA Amendments 2019/2020 You Should Know

2. Better customer experience as you build trust and confidence

One of the benefits of PDPA implementation is having clearer options to analyze customer data that can allow you to offer new or improved products and personalized services as you work on building trust and confidence between your customers and the organization as a whole.

Your customer feels confident knowing that they are working with an organization that does not compromise on personal data and sees to it that it is gathered and managed in complete PDPA compliance with the law.

3. Stronger safeguards and reduction of unsolicited messages

By now, your customers will understand to who they are sharing their personal data and also choose whether it is essential to furnish this personal data to the organization collecting it. Additionally, they are assured that they will only get messages for the intentions they subscribe to; they can also select to opt into the DNC Registry and opt for the Do Not Text Registry. This helps lessen unsolicited messages that they will get.

On the business-facing front, this helps the organization customize marketing messages for better results.

Final thoughts on the benefits of PDPA

Looking more closely at the benefits of PDPA for organizations, it is clear that these perks go both ways. That is, as businesses empower their customers by giving them transparency of their personal data and earning their confidence, they are also building on their credibility as a forward-thinking companies in the era of digitalization. After all, our personal data is the currency of the digital age and must be regarded with the utmost responsibility.