Lessons from Airbnb and Uber Privacy incidents: Gaining trust through privacy compliance

The privacy of our personal information has, in many respects, become a commodity to be traded for goods and services: If you receive goods or services for free, it is you (or your personal information) that is the product.

But, as social sharing companies like Airbnb and Uber have discovered, as individuals become more privacy-aware, they are increasingly reluctant to hand-over personal information, unless they trust that their personal information will be protected and properly handled.

A strong privacy compliance program and corporate culture of valuing privacy go a long way to gaining and maintaining user trust.

LESSONS FROM AIRBNB AND UBER PRIVACY "INCIDENTS"

The privacy concerns of an Australian Airbnb user (triggered by a request from the platform to upload a personal video) have been widely reported in the press and on social media.