Kaspersky Lab has launched a video campaign featuring consumers being offered the opportunity to exchange personal data for merchandise, to highlight the inherent risks of cybersecurity and data protection.
The campaign – titled ‘Data Dollars’ – comprised a tongue-in-cheek video where consumers browsed a pop-up store in London showcasing products from street designer Ben Eine. When shoppers expressed interest in a particular product, instead of paying by traditional means, they were asked to hand over some form of personal data, such as photos or WhatsApp message conversations.
If shoppers elected to share their personal information, it was displayed on screens outside the shop, in full view of the 70,000 who travel through the area per day.
The campaign aims to highlight that while the consumers in this video had a choice over whether to share their personal data, this often isn’t the case, with people and businesses often unwittingly leaving devices unprotected.
Created in association with comms agency Radley Yeldar (RY), Kaspersky Lab hopes the campaign will raise awareness about the nefarious pitfalls associated with hidden cybercrime.
Cybersecurity and data protection a pertinent topic in the B2B space
The issue of personal data protection has been thrust into the spotlight over the past year, with EU brands rushing to get their data houses in order ahead of next year’s hotly-debated GDPR.
This new data regulation comes into effect 25 May 2018 and will carry huge fines – €20 million or 4% of a company’s annual turnover – for those who fail to comply.
And it seems many companies are not on track to achieve 100% compliance, with recent research revealing just 52% of IT decision-makers would be able to report a data breach to the authorities within 72 hours, as required by the new law.
Moreover, an alarming 66% of UK business owners either haven’t heard of GDPR’s impact on metadata security, or currently don’t have any plans in place to comply with its effect.
Commenting on the Kaspersky campaign, Emily Jeffrey-Barrett, creative lead at RY, said: “People don’t protect their phones very well against hackers, even though they are just as vulnerable as computers.
“This means they can take anything – from personal photos, to messages, even bank details. Our currency is designed to help people instantly recognise that their personal data has real value and needs to be protected.”
