Storing Social Data

Following on from our recent blog and the involvement of Social Sign-In it seems a fair question to get our head around the concept of what happens with that social data that’s accessed by websites which incorporate this feature?

Online security is at its boiling point in recent times, so before users go off and start handing over their details to third party websites, isn’t it wise to know how they’re handling the information being handed to them? This blog will look into what precautins are taken, and how companies handle social data.

Our recent blog on customer identity systems identifies what happens when organisations begin to monetise their data, you can read this here, however this blog looks at the importance of centralising this data.

What is a Centralised database?

A centralised database is essentially a database that’s stored in one location. What this means is that organisations will store every single piece of data acquired in one location as opposed to separate locations for separate items. Now briefly reading this, you may be struggling to see the importance of centralising your data, so let’s point out the advantages of having a centralised database.

Advantages

Arguably, the most important advantage is the increase of data integrity. Data integrity is defined as “The maintenance and the assurance of the accuracy and consistency of data.” Due to the fact that there will be a single view of the data, it makes it significantly easier maintaining that this data is accurate and consistent, as you’d only need to update one mainframe, as opposed multiple if you didn’t have a single view. From a business strategy perspective, what’s the point in pouring efforts into monetisation efforts, if you’re trying to reach your consumers through old contact details?

A second large advantage is the added security that comes with storing your data in one place. Essentially, this minimises the potential avenue of data breaches.at Evolok, we have a single view of all our consumer data, stored on a cloud platform. This significantly increases the security levels, as it’s trying to find a needle in a haystack. For organisations that store emails in one consumer identity system, social profiles in another, for example then it makes it easier for foul play to occur, as there is more than one CIM to attempt to breach.

Finally, one more thing to take into consideration is the amount of money that will be saved if data is centralised. It’s a much more cost-effective method of operation, as the data is in one single place. Labour, power supply, and maintenance costs are all reduced, and that money could essentially be reinvested on other projects. It’s also significantly easier for the end-user to get on with centralised databases, due to the sheer simplicity of just managing one database.

If what you’ve read today has peaked your interest, don’t hesitate to contact Evolok for a demo.