Imagine...
Imagine a society governed by mass surveillance, no doors on your home and no curtains to draw. Every time you needed the bathroom, it would be in a glass box for the world to see. And if you ever had any qualms about the extent of transparency, all you had to do was recall Eric Schmidt's words: “If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place”.
From such an open yet suffocating environment, it's easy to see how we as individuals need our private and personal space. But when it comes to businesses, why is privacy still just as important?
Relationships and client protection
Within businesses, privacy creates a bulwark which ensures client protection in terms of sensitive data - which is crucial in building customer trust and confidence through the safeguarding of client interests. This is perhaps most imperative in negotiation processes, where dealing with numerous counterparts means a massive amount of data sensitivity. For instance, in a leasing process, nobody wants to disclose information of a client if doing so carries the threat of triggering competing agents to fish for the very same client. Moreover, if all your data is accessible to and monitored by everyone, a ripple of unwanted questions and presumptions regarding the state of your firm might come crashing in.
Privacy also means companies can engage in internal asset protection, enhancing brand differentiation and shoring up barriers to entry. The ability to filter your communication channels also means that companies can shield themselves from potential conflicts of interests which may come with open disclosures.
A message from Rialto:
Protecting your client relationships
Rialto has always regarded privacy as a core feature of its existing platform, recognising that it remains a longstanding need and desire. We recently decided to extend privacy configurations by introducing a brand new feature.
Prior to our adjustments, our privacy feature was 2 fold:
Asset Protection: clients had access control on an asset level. As a landlord, you had discretion over which agents you could give asset access to.
Deal Protection: The enabling of access control on an enquiry level. In this regard, we respected the privacy of both the landlord and the agent.
However, with our newly added feature, we give even more options for clients to truly customize their data privacy. This is extended to all stakeholders- both the landlords and the agents.
A glimpse into our latest feature
You are in total control of what and with whom you are sharing client information.
After creating your enquiry, you can still modify the sharing settings, and exclude specific people from an enquiry in the event that you deem there to be a potential conflict of interest. You can now filter your communication channels with as much ease as Facebook!
In a world which upholds connectivity, people still remain at the crux of the real estate industry. As far as individualism goes, there will always be moments of conflicting interests, and thus, we see privacy as a much needed element of regulation.
Regardless of the industry we are in or the characteristics we hold, it is always important that we as people have the flexibility to choose who, where, and by what means our information is being communicated.