How Emerging Technology Creates Issues for Compliance

As technology advances at lightning speeds, regulations and compliance tests attempt to maintain the same pace. Big tech and big data are expanding and evolving, gathering more information, and developing more devices every day. The balance of regulating this progress, however, is not without issues.

If regulatory governance and compliance services wish to stay ahead of innovations, they must strive for updating policies. Transparency, accountability, privacy and growth rate are topping the list of balance dilemmas between compliance and new technology.

Technology Growth Rate

The rate at which technology is progressing is the fastest it’s ever been. With the Internet of Things (IoT) emerging as the leading force of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the sector is moving quickly. As it optimizes connections through its network of all things digital and internet-related, it’s singlehandedly catapulting the industry forward.

IoT provides new devices, products and ways to connect. This capability affects all industries as companies now rely on technology for their business operations. With this rate of growth, regulation standards need to improve.

The speed of technological advancements is outpacing the updates for compliance. Bigger companies, especially, will need improved regulations as they use significant amounts of personal data. Global and national laws must stay in-line with the newest advances, too, in the interest of public safety and security.

Ownership and Accountability

What complicates the growth rate further is the overlapping of industries through technology. When innovations mesh with different products or services, the ownership of the product becomes confusing. Thus, the process of regulation and accountability does as well. For instance, a ride-sharing service that begins to deliver packages or food could muddle the line between ownership. What jurisdiction does the service fall under? How should governance regulations approach it?

When ownership and accountability come into question, so does privacy. As overlapping industry products become harder to regulate, their data becomes vulnerable, negatively affecting consumers and users as a lack of regulations lets companies misuse information.

A proactive step the businesses and manufacturers themselves can take is to use a pre-compliance EMC test or service. Tests like these help prepare for later, full compliance by detecting the issues with data or materials beforehand. This step can help with passing regulations later on.

AI Creating Issues for Transparency

Another setback for compliance is transparency. Without proper regulation, clients and consumers won’t necessarily understand how a company or service is going to use their personal data or information. This lack of communication entails security issues.

Artificial intelligence (AI), for example, is one of the driving forces of technology today. It is an essential stride forward for the industry and everyday life. However, some companies keep their AI algorithms and operations confidential and unavailable. This disconnect entails difficulty for regulatory governance and compliance. It also prevents customers from knowing how the company uses and gathers their intelligence, a divisive issue that can draw backlash from consumers and government officials alike.

Improved transparency will aid in smoother compliance testing, resulting in enhanced safety.

What Comes Next for Compliance and Technology?

As technology continues to improve, regulations will have to catch up. For instance, in 2018, the European Union (EU) implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that helps regulate data collection and protection and overall privacy. Other nations will want to implement new regulations like this one to protect consumers and the general public.

When implementing compliance governance, there are four critical questions to answer. What is happening now? What to regulate? How to regulate? What has changed? Policymakers can follow these questions to maintain an understanding of how to go about this rough terrain.

Overall, these questions and areas of concern speak to the more significant issue of safety and security. Regulations assist in improving data collection, handling and privacy. With proper compliance, technology can continue to strengthen daily lives while still respecting privacy and security.