What to Know About Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Customer data platforms are gaining popularity as highly valuable marketing tools that will help create unified platforms for organizations to enhance their customer journey. It is in the best interest of the people to understand what CDP is and how it compares against other systems, such as DMP and CRM. 

In this article, we will cover exactly that and more. 

Keep reading to learn more about customer data. 

What Is A Customer Data Platform? 

A CDP, a.k.a customer data platform, is a type of software that organizes and aggregates customer data across various touchpoints. 

This process is then used by other software, marketing efforts, and systems in order to provide an enhanced customer experience. CDPs structure and collect real-time data into centralized customer profiles. 

What Is Customer Data? 

CDPs only exist because of the uprising of the value for customer data, both in marketing operations and business. Customer data is the information that consumers leave behind as they interact with touchpoints on the internet or in-person. For instance, blogs, e-commerce stores, websites, in-store visits – all provide some sort of data. 

When it comes to customer data, there are four types that stick out the most. 

Identity 

Identity covers the data that is based on a single customer profile within the CDP. This type of data allows a business to identify each customer and prevent costly mistakes. 

This type of data includes, but is not limited to: 

Name, demographic, location, contact info, social info, professional info, and account information. 

Descriptive 

Descriptive covers the expansion of the faculties of identity data to provide a greater picture of the customer. This data will vary depending on the type of company and the customer they are looking for. 

This type of data includes but is not limited to: 

Career information, family information, lifestyle information, and hobby information. 

Quantitative 

Quantitive covers the ability to understand how a customer has engaged with the company through the medium of their actions, transactions, and reactions. 

This type of data includes, but is not limited to: 

Transaction information, online activity, email communication, customer service. 

Qualitative 

Qualitative covers the context of a customer profile. It gives the customer a data character. This data collects attitudes, opinions, and motivations expressed by a customer, whether it’s related to the company or not. 

This type of data includes, but is not limited to: 

Opinion information, attitude information, motivation information. 

From this, you can safely presume that CDPs are valuable tools in organizing all of this data, as each of the categories will vary based on the industry and type of business being run. 

Now let’s take a look at how CDP differs from CRM and DMP. 

CDP vs CRM 

CDP and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools collect customer data and provide value to the company. But that’s that for similarities. 

A CDP autonomously develops unique customer profiles with data collected across all online and offline sources. A CRM can only track the intentional interactions of a customer, done by manual entry. 

CDPs collect data on anonymous visitors, whereas CRMs report on potential or known customers. 

CDPs analyze the entire customer journey and behavior. CRMs focus on forecasting and sales pipelines. 

CDPs track both offline and online customer data. CRMs cannot pick up offline data unless manually entered. 

CDPs handle many data points from a variety of sources. CRMs collect individual-entered points of data, and they can get mislabeled or lost. 

CDP vs DMP 

CDP works with anonymous and known customers, storing all of their personally identifiable information. While DMPs (Data Management Platforms) work exclusively with anonymous settings, such as devices, IPs, and cookies. 

CDPs influence all kinds of marketing decisions. DMPs focus on better advertisement and audience reach. 

CDPs collect first-party data from the source. DMPs collect third-party data from services, managers, and providers. 

CDPs keep the data for a long time to build accurate customer profiles. DMPs keep the data for short period of time to build and attract lookalike audiences. 

Benefits Of A CDP 

CDPs start by improving your company via enhanced customer relationships and work in conjunction with your existing software. So let’s take a look at the key benefits. 

Data Silo Avoidance 

In the world of business, data silos refer to being limited from all parties of the organization. When business scales too fast, technology cannot keep up. Data silos reduce collaborative involvement and decrease the productivity of your organizations. 

CDPs Solve This Problem

They unify customer data and employees. Every single employee will have access to customer data in some form. The marketing team can access it for attribution and analytics. The sales team can access it for closing deals. The operations team can access it for payment and behavior analysis. 

Data Collection 

Data is all over the place. How can we determine its accuracy? CDPs via first-party data collection, such as site visits, social media followers, and subscribers deliver data that helps make marketing decisions straight from the client base. 

CDPs always reflect the most accurate audience information. 

Customer Relationships 

For customer-centered marketing to work, one must know the customer. CDPs build customer profiles in a way that allows an organization to involve and engage each and every individual. The software helps inform the company of the customer’s behavior and develop identity graphs for interaction. 

CDPs equip you with the tools to manage the relationships and manage the audience effectively and accurately. 

Customer Data Evolved 

Now that you understand the importance of customer data and how a CDP takes care of all the hassle that comes with it, you are well on your way to taking your business to the next level.

Cloud Computing Smart Security Solutions

Cloud computing’s security is an area of concern for researchers and business professionals in our increasingly remote world. Many surveys in the research field point out that some of these security problems present as data breaches while others deal with access control. Whatever the issue, it concerns decision makers greatly when making a choice of software or solution. C-suite executives and VPs should take note that these security challenges are well documented. 

At the same time, each presents its own solution to vulnerabilities found in using cloud computing to meet business challenges and customer demands. In short, if you take the right precautions, cloud computing can be both safer and more satisfying for your business needs. Let this post be an introduction to some of the security challenges you can mind while relying on cloud computing for your business. We offer at least four common concerns and their solutions. 

1. Data Breaches 

Some businesses feel they are immune to a data breach because of their size—either because they are too small to be attacked, or because they are too large to fail to protect themselves. Nevertheless, Software as a Service (SaaS) and other breaches grow year over year regardless of company size, industry, or operating system. To protect against a cloud computing security breach, you can take a number of network security approaches. 

Educating employees on data security best practices is a good idea, but so is deciding to only keep information absolutely necessary for your business. You can also implement time out functions and stick to a strict security update procedure. These are common practices on Platforms as a Service (PaaS) like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. 

2. Access Control 

When an attacker has legitimate system access, there is little that even the most advanced cloud system can do to protect itself from theft and exploitation. Unauthorized access is a significant issue, and it is common regardless (again) of industry or size. To secure and manage access, organizations should use multi-factor authentication, strong passwords, and automated rotations of certificates and keys. If you implement these best practices, you will enjoy fewer instances of unauthorized access and be better able to manage the threat of remote data theft from data centers. 

3. Data Loss 

Data loss is often an issue that comes from in-house rather than from an attacker. You understand that accidents occur, and that human error is a factor in any advanced system. Nevertheless, data can be permanently lost if not properly secured. To prevent data loss and cloud storage, cloud computing customers should review data loss provisions and understand who is responsible for data loss when it occurs. Many providers include data backups as part of their agreement. You may even decide to store data in-house as well as remotely for a hybrid cloud if your data is highly critical. 

4. Denial Of Service 

A Denial of Service (DoS) attack renders your computing power, system, or network unable to function for its users. Cyber criminals are able to even pay other attackers to control and target a botnet and other deployment models which do the job of denying service. (You can partially blame the rise of cryptocurrency for the prevalence of these attacks rather than cloud infrastructure). 

The key to securing your system and cloud service from DoS attacks is to first build redundancy in your infrastructure. You can then configure your business network specifically against a DoS attack through hardware and software. Finally, protect your DNS servers so that no one can bring your web servers offline. 

Cloud Computing Conclusion

Security is one of the top concerns of commercial and personal users of cloud computing services. Our remote era is consistently reminded of data breaches and cyber attacks through the news and first-hand. And, while you may not be able to implement protections yourself, you can find the right talent to install them for you. While big firms are often the most secure, they are also the most expensive. And no business is "too big to fail" in the realm of cloud computing security. 

On the other hand, many businesses cannot tolerate the risk that small firms bring through less experience. This is where a top cybersec company brings a unique benefit to those seeking cost efficiency as well as security. Cybersec companies work with your business as a natural extension of your resources, budget, and skills to empower you to enjoy competence as well as security while you develop secure business solutions.

Best Ways To Ensure Cyber Security Of Your Startup

There was a time when risk managers would list things like competition and changing consumer trends as the biggest risks to startups. Today, cyberattacks, especially those targeting SMEs and startups, are the number one threat and major trouble spot for risk managers. Your startup is at its most vulnerable at any stage should you be at the receiving of any kind of cyber breach or attack. 

A recent Verizon report indicates that 58% of recent cyber-attack victims were SMEs with startups falling in the bracket. Amidst all the widely publicized megahacks targeting large organizations and government institutions, a larger, unreported number of attacks are being directed to startups and SMEs like yours. Your business should really invest in cybersecurity software testing services.

But in addition to the obvious need to embrace cybersec software testing, here are some of the most common cyber threats likely to be directed towards your startup now or in the near future: 

Direct Breaches: Cyber Espionage, Database Breaches, Internal Threats And Ransomware 

Startups will often get direct attacks from cybercriminals or internal elements trying to gain access to critical data, steal it or destroy it. This is especially common in technology startups or those on the cutting edge of innovation. Falling victim to any of these direct attacks could be devastating to a startup given how much resources are dedicated to innovation and data security. Startup founders and finance department members even get their smartphone hacked due to the valuable data and access they contain.

Why And How Often Do Direct Attacks Happen? 

As evident from the number of ransomware and database breaches in the recent past, direct breaches are becoming the most common attack method for high-value targets and SME. The improvement in tooling and emergence of organized hacking outfits has also made direct attacks quite common unlike in the past where there were isolated cases. 

Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) Attacks 

Most budding startups seem to have a preference for a relaxed working arrangement where employees are allowed to work from anywhere including on cafes and restaurants or on the road. More often than not, these people tend to use unsecured public Wi-Fi hotspots that have emerged as the number one MITM attack channel. 

Why And How Often Do Public WIFI MITM Attacks Happen 

Most public hotspots have very poor security and are open for everyone to use including malicious elements. The past few years have seen a sharp increase in the number of MITM attacks launched through public WIFI. Chances of having your data accessed by malicious characters on public WIFI are quite high in the current environment. 

How do you secure your startup against these growing threats given the limited resources you might have at your disposal? 

Top 3 Ways To Secure Startups From Cyber Attacks 

1. Invest In Security Software And Infrastructure 

Antivirus software alone does not offer enough protection for startups. Instead, you should consider investing in more robust security software such as custom firewalls, secured routers and downloading a VPN app for each employee in your startup. 

2. Do An Internal Risk Assessment 

How does your current IT setup and capacity match up against the growing threat from cyberspace? As a first step, ensure that you conduct a comprehensive risk assessment whose results will guide in implementing the required safeguards. 

3. Train Your Staff On Basic Cybersecurity 

The biggest threat to your startup’s security could be your own co-workers and employees. In this regard, it has become a requirement for all organizations to train their staff on how to behave on the internet and utilize company IT resources safely. 

Secure Your Startup

All in all, securing your startup against external cyber threats comes down to internal policies and your approach towards security from the top to the bottom.

GDPR And The Required Retention Of Documents

The underlying principle of GDPR is that everything which is done with data needs to be done mindfully. This holds true right from the point of collection, through processing and, ultimately, to the decision as to whether or not to retain data and if so under what conditions. This principle is great as a principle, but in practice it can be a whole lot more complicated than it sounds. 

Complexity Is The Enemy Of Execution But Done Is Better Than Perfect 

Obviously, you want your data-retention strategy to be as good as it can possibly be, but done is better than perfect, at least in the short- to medium-term. In other words, if you at least start the ball rolling, then you can keep improving what you already have until you eventually achieve perfection, or as close to it as you can get. 

Digital documents are usually much easier to manage than paper ones If you still have a whole stack of paper documents on your premises, then now is the time to tackle the paper mountain. Even if you need to keep the paper documents for legal purposes (which is now increasingly rare), you still want digital copies of them, just in case. 

These days, however, that is much more likely to be the exception than the rule, which means that digitizing documents will allow you to get rid of the paper ones, which brings all sorts of additional benefits. 

Consider Starting By Implementing An Effective Archiving Process 

Your IT department probably hopefully backs up your data, but essentially all this means is that they take a copy of it as it stands at a specific point in time so that they can restore to that point should the need arise. 

Effective archiving containerizes data, indexes and/or tags it and makes it both searchable and retrievable. In other words, you need a decent archiving system in place so you know what you have and where, which is a pre-requisite to knowing how long it has been stored. 

Consider Pseudo-Anonymizing Data, Especially If You Are Holding It For Longer Periods 

Data-protection regulations apply to personal data. This means that, in principle, you can ignore them if you have fully anonymized any data that you keep, although in practice it can be quite a challenge to anonymize data to the extent needed to keep technology and privacy regulators happy. 

Pseudo-anonymized data is still considered personal data and hence all standard rules continue to apply. However, the risks involved with keeping it are substantially reduced. This is a fact which not only makes it less likely that you will be exposed to a breach but also means that you may have less of a regulatory and reputational management issue if you do. 

Remember That A Data Regulator Will Probably Appreciate Evidence Of Reasonable Thought 

The role of a data-protection regulator is to make sure data guardians take their responsibilities seriously. If you can demonstrate that you have put thought into your data-retention strategy, then you increase your chances of being shown leniency in the event of a breach. This is true even if the data-regulator ultimately decides that you should not have acted in the way you did.

The Importance Of Digital Privacy Laws

Just over a decade ago, data privacy wasn’t as serious of an issue as it is today. Big Tech (Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and Facebook in particular) and Big Brother now competing on keeping users’ privacy secure – as user-privacy is a top concern for most users and companies. Smaller business organizations can also keep up by investing in data security software. If we revert back 10 years from now, investing in data privacy software or worrying about huge privacy laws like GDPR was not much of a concern. However, that’s no longer the case. That’s because, theft of data and identity has become a hot business for crooks. In fact, it is a lot easier to steal someone’s money in cyberspace than pick pocketing on city-streets. 

Nonetheless, data privacy is not as much of a significant issue for IT companies as it should be. That’s because, information technology businesses are betting on their customers to pass on the good word – the good words on how secure their privacy really is. What’s more, well known IT companies are attempting to gain a lead by promoting themselves as leaders in information security. In fact, Mozilla, known for their Firefox browser has confirmed that it would allow Firefox users to disable 3rd-party software, which can track users’ online activities. Some companies have taken a different approach altogether by not dealing with IT companies that hold a bad reputation in the field of information security.

Data Privacy is no longer a small matter, people are increasingly becoming wary of their online and offline privacy. With increasing social media use, combined with users storing personal data on cloud computers, measures to perfect information security are a must for all IT companies. Furthermore, it also makes sense for IT organization to have a reliable information security infrastructure set in place. That is because, countries such as Europe have strict regulations on users’ data privacy. Organizations that cannot fully guarantee the security of their users’ are punished and may even lose their license to operate in the in the EU. As we have seen with Microsoft 10 years back, a default setting in Microsoft’s servers stored key users' data without proper security measure put in place. Thus, Microsoft was forced to make significant changes to its Information security infrastructure. Another approach adopted by large IT companies, in order to gain an advantage, was to expose their rivals’ information security loopholes.  One such high-profile smear campaign that came under notice was from Microsoft, in which Microsoft targeted its largest rival – Google. 

In this campaign, Microsoft ridiculed Google for tracking its users for targeted marketing campaigns, accusing Google of using information from users search histories and emails. Consequently, Google responded by simplifying its users privacy policy in order to avoid backlash from its users. On the other hand, according to top tech insiders, Microsoft has made significant strides towards protecting users’ data by developing privacy protection services. Several other organizations have taken notice of Microsoft’s initiative and are now opting to do the same – focusing more on users’ privacy. Smaller organizations with smaller information security budgets can also put in place effective data security measures by simply investing in third-party data security software which can protect folder containing private and confidential data on customers and their financial assets. This software is also capable of locking down entire hard-drive partitions, which is a priceless feature for organizations that need to archive or set apart different sets of data into different hard-drives. 

Lately, it seems that barely a day goes by when we don’t learn about a major Internet presence taking steps to further erode users’ privacy. The companies with access to our data are tracking us in ways that make Big Brother look like a sweet little baby sister. Typically when we hear an outcry about privacy violations, these perceived violations involve some apparently omnipotent corporation recording the websites we visit, the applications we download, the social networks we join, the mobile phones we carry, the text messages we send and receive, the places we go, the people we’re with, the things we like and dislike, and so on. How do they do this? By offering us free stuff to consume online and infrastructure for the online communities that tie us together. We gobble up their technologies, download their programs, use their services, and mindlessly click “I Agree” to terms & conditions we never read. 



What’s the point of all this? Sales, marketers, advertisers, other businesses benefit from knowing every last detail about you—the 33 bits of information necessary to pin down your personal identity—in order to deliver precisely targeted advertisements to your digital device of choice, whether that’s a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Should we care? What is the potential danger? “Back in the day,” examples might include telemarketers abusing your phone number by calling incessantly, or direct marketers filling your mailbox with junk mail. Today, it’s spammers sending unwanted emails, or the same advertisement from the same company popping up again and again on every single website you visit. The concern is that this could go from annoying to frightening. Privacy advocates are working to prevent the worst and most extreme outcomes of personal data collection. They know that without checks and balances, without consumers knowing their rights and actively protecting their own privacy and personal data, that data could be used unethically. 

Privacy is your right. But realize that in our wired, interconnected world, privacy only really consists of what you say and do within your own home, legally, with the shades pulled down, between you and your loved ones, that is not communicated, recorded, broadcast, or reproduced on the Internet or any public forum in any way. Beyond that, especially when taking advantage of various online resources, be sure that you know what it is you’re agreeing to and take precautions to protect yourself. 

At Lean Startup Life we always promote awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared, and education about privacy practices that will enable individuals to protect their personal information.  This is a good time to check your privacy settings on social networking and other sites you use, ensure you have a strong password and be aware of where and with whom you are sharing personal data with. 

Once in awhile you will come across other online businesses and websites breaking the law or even trying to sue you. If there is a legal issue that needs to be resolved in your professional or personal life, make sure you go with the best at Solicitors Liverpool. 

Your business and personal data contains valuable information that could easily be used in criminal activity. Not only does one have to be aware of the various threats that are out there, but one also has to safeguard confidential data using the latest in data security software. The internet technology has brought a revolution in the field of technology. Now information can reach millions of users with no barriers who are sitting in different parts of the world. Today, the internet is the most advanced technology and millions of people are being benefited from it. However, the misuse of this technology can be disastrous and create serious problems for individuals and organizations. 

Frequent hacking of internet accounts has been seen many times which bring losses to companies. The chief reason for this is uncontrolled and unchecked internet privacy which users don’t usually pay attention to. The disadvantage of unchecked internet privacy is that anybody can have access to the information and can be misused. The internet privacy system, which is installed on many network applications, allows you to manage the security of your information so that it could not fall into the wrong hands. Internet privacy consists of many security features which can help share our information only with those whom we are familiar with. Information on the internet is confidential and it should not be shared with anybody. Sometimes people share their bank account details to shop online and make payments without taking any measure and eventually they are deprived of their accounts. Financial companies who offer services of online payment and buying/selling of products use https servers and 1024 bit key so that nobody could hack the sites and know about the financial transactions which are being done on their websites. 

Breach of internet privacy and protected websites is a punishable offense and is strongly dealt by the cyber crime wing of any country. The cyber crime wing does surveillance of internet traffic and points out any breach of privacy by unauthorized users. Furthermore, several users often transport sensitive data onto portable drives – increasing the possibility of data theft – given the chance your flash drive is found by a criminal. Therefore, it’s imperative that users Secure USB drives with data security software engineered to safeguard data on external drives. To manage the flow of information on internet and non-sharing of private information with unauthorized users' internet privacy is essential to reduce the threats of internet security. Every individual has right to secure private information from being misused by internet hackers and unauthorized personnel. Therefore, people should watch out that their internet privacy mode is on before sharing their personal information on different websites. The details of bank accounts and credit cards are highly confidential and private data which can be misused by anybody. Thus, every effort should be made to maintain the security and privacy of confidential data or intellectual property from being it is misused. 

Sharing of pictures and videos mostly on social networking websites has also proven very dangerous sometimes. With internet privacy it can be accessed by other users of that network who can pass it to others and misuse it. With internet privacy option the pictures and videos of users can only be restricted to a limited number of people who users have allowed the system to share their personal information. Hence, by using the internet privacy option wisely, we can save our personal information, bank account details and other private data from being misused by unauthorized personnel. Do a cyber security audit of your business immediately to minimize your risk of cyber crime.


I hope you enjoyed this blog post about lean startup living legal protection and the laws involved in digital data privacy.

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