New power to boost consumers access to data
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17 November 2012 - Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills
Consumers will be given new
powers to request their personal customer data from business, helping
them manage their money better and make better lifestyle choices as
part of the ‘midata’ programme, under new measures to be announced by
Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson on Monday.
Following a consultation this summer, the Government will
announce that it will look to legislate if companies fail to comply
with the voluntary release of consumers’ electronic data. Under new
plans, companies would have to release data they hold relating to a
consumer’s consumption or transactions in an electronic machine
readable format, upon request.
The power to legislate would be focussed on three ‘core’ sectors
initially: current accounts and credit cards, the mobile phone and
energy sectors with an additional power to extend the legislation to
other sectors if appropriate. ‘midata’ was developed by BIS using
insights and evidence from the Government’s Behaviour Insights Team.
Employment and Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson said:
“’midata’ is all about putting power into the hands of consumers. Many
businesses reap huge commercial benefits from the information they
gather from consumers’ daily spending patterns. Why shouldn’t consumers
also benefit from this by having access to their own data to enable
them to make better choices?
“It’s great when your energy provider tells you how much gas or
electricity you’re using at any point in the year or when phone
companies tell you which one of their tariffs suits you best. But it’s
even better when consumers can use that information to get better value
for money deals or adjust their lifestyles.
“This is just one of many ways ‘midata’ can help, as businesses
increasingly recognise sharing data as a means to deliver a better
service for their customers.”
Which? Executive Director Richard Lloyd said:
"The ‘midata’ programme can help put consumers in the driving seat of
the information revolution while boosting competition and supporting
growth among companies that provide the best products and services.
"We're pleased to see the Government putting in place measures to give
people the right to see data that companies hold on them. Giving
consumers more power with their personal data will help them make
better use of their money, and that's not only good for
customer-friendly businesses, but good for growth in the economy."
Alison Brittain, Group Director, Retail Division of Lloyds Banking
Group said:
“Lloyds Banking Group welcomes the ‘midata’ initiative as a means of
helping consumers take greater control of their finances. We have for
some time provided our customers with the ability to download current
account and credit card information as we know how important this is in
helping customers make informed decisions.
“We have also led the industry in providing our customers with ‘Money
Manager’ – a sophisticated online tool that allows them to plan, budget
and make choices about their financial future.”
The relationship between businesses and their customers has evolved to
being more than simply buying products. With the popularity of loyalty
cards, comparison sites and mobile applications, businesses are
increasingly helping consumers manage their lives. ‘midata’ allows
people to request their personal data from businesses in a useful
format, to allow them to make the best choices for themselves in all
their purchases.
‘midata’ has made significant progress as a voluntary measure, with
more than 20 leading businesses in the energy, finance and telecoms
sectors signing up. In the future people could benefit from a range of
applications made possible by accessing and sharing data held on them
by businesses, for example by:
- viewing their data to see which energy or mobile tariff suits them
better;
- comparing the prices or looking at the health benefits of
their food consumption, across all stores instead of just one, or;
- keeping up to date via one application with the latest
films, music or shows released tailored to their previous choices and
personal taste
- electricity companies printing QR codes on their bills
containing all the information on a customer’s tariff, usage patterns
and supplier details – scanning that with a Smartphone can help
consumers’ instantly work out the cheapest tariff to be on based on
consumption patterns
Notes to editors
1. The consultation response will be
available to view online
on Monday 19th November at http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/category/closedwithresponse
2. The regulation-making power itself will not impose a duty
on
business- such a duty will only be imposed if secondary legislation is
made. If the Government does consider bringing forward secondary
legislation, the Government will undertake further consultation and
engagement with business and other stakeholders, including further work
to assess the costs and benefits of regulation. We estimate the power
to come into place by Spring 2014.
3. Details on the ‘midata’ programme as well as a list of supporting
organisations is available to view at http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/consumer-issues/consumer-empowerment/personal-data
4. Illustrative examples of ways ‘midata’ applications could work can
be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/consumer-issues/consumer-empowerment/personal-data/midata-future-10-ways-it-could-shape-your-choices
5. The Government's economic policy objective is to achieve 'strong,
sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the
country and between industries.' It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan
for Growth’ (PDF
1.7MB) published at Budget 2011:
- To create the most competitive tax system in the G20
- To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance
and grow a business
- To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more
balanced economy
- To create a more educated workforce that is the most
flexible in Europe.
Work is underway across Government to achieve these ambitions,
including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth
Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this
work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more
clarity about the long-term direction in which the Government wants the
economy to travel. Strong, empowered consumers promote competition
which contributes to economic growth.
About the Author
© Crown Copyright. Material taken from the BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Reproduced under the terms and conditions of the Click-Use Licence.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2012-11-20 12:50:23 in Business Articles
