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On September 9, Crowell & Moring hosted its quarterly Crowell Atelier networking breakfast for luxury and retail clients. The event featured a conversation between Shane St. Hill, chief legal and compliance officer at Studs, an experiential retail and e-commerce company that offers bespoke ear piercing services; and Crowell partner Matthew F. Ferraro, former senior counselor for cybersecurity and emerging technology to the U.S. secretary of homeland security. Shane and Matthew discussed critical considerations for online consumer engagement, including the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence in targeted marketing; national and international data privacy requirements; cybersecurity; and consumer notifications and consents.
Six takeaways for online marketing:
- AI policies: Have one! Develop clear company AI policies and regularly communicate and update them.
- Due diligence of AI vendors: Make sure to review vendors' contract provisions, including on licensing, liability, and indemnification. Understand where current and potential AI vendors' training data comes from.
- Data privacy is a patchwork of U.S. state and international rules and regulations. Try your best to conform with the strictest data privacy requirements.
- Develop consumer data storage policies, especially for retention of sensitive consumer information such as health data.
- Be proactive in protecting your company's data. Consider multifactor authentication, software patching, and regular employee training, as well as "low-tech" options to defend against cyber threats—sometimes a confirmatory phone call really is the best approach to defend against a cyber threat.
- Finally, carefully consider how or if your company uses AI chatbots, and ensure proper disclosures are made to consumers.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
