10 Essential Security and Privacy Questions for Marketers Adopting AI Tools

min read
10 Essential Security and Privacy Questions for Marketers Adopting AI Tools

Marketers are always on top of utilizing the latest technologies to crunch data, target customers, and drive more revenue from every cent they spend. In the last year, hot martech and artificial intelligence have become inseparable, and every marketer wants to see how they can use AI to do more with their time and budgets. Data security is a big concern, though, and it’s the #1 reason marketers cited as a barrier to AI adoption in our State of AI in Digital Marketing Survey.

Before you adopt new AI marketing technology, get familiar with these 10 key security and data privacy questions every marketer should pose to potential AI software vendors. And so you don’t have to dig for it, we’ll also show you how Invoca prioritizes protecting your data.

1. How is Data Encrypted and Protected?

From customer data to proprietary product information to news about upcoming releases, marketers handle a vast amount of sensitive data. To ensure that this data stays private, check that your AI tool vendor employs robust encryption methods to safeguard your data both in transit and at rest. This is particularly important in industries that handle highly sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) like healthcare and financial services. 

You should also ensure that financial information like credit card and Social Security numbers are automatically redacted in any AI tool that can transcribe or otherwise store this data. In fact, compliance standards like the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) require this.

Without proper encryption and redaction, your marketing insights, customer information, and even trade secrets could be vulnerable to unauthorized access.

How Invoca protects your data

Invoca maintains encryption standards for all data in transit and at rest. Invoca is certified compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for safeguarding payment card information. View our certification here.

In the case that sensitive data — e.g. credit card information or date of birth — may be disclosed by consumers during your calls, Invoca can automatically redact this information from recordings and transcripts before they're stored. Learn more about our automated redaction feature here.

2. Where is Data Stored, and How is it Secured?

The geographic location of data storage matters and not knowing where it’s stored can cause you to run afoul of regulations like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and others. Confirm that the vendor's storage practices comply with any data protection laws that apply to your business and the regions in which you do business. Knowing where your data resides adds an extra layer of security to prevent legal complications and ensures compliance with data sovereignty requirements.

How Invoca stores your data

Invoca serves North American, UK and EU markets. UK and EU data is stored in Europe and non-UK/EU data is stored in the US. Invoca also utilizes a 100% fully redundant cloud infrastructure. Multiple geographically diverse cloud service providers create redundancy to ensure your data is available when you need it and our web application is engineered to maintain a 99.999% uptime. Dedicated engineering teams provide 24/7/365 monitoring and maintenance to ensure your data and your customer’s data are available and secure.

3. What Access Controls Are in Place?

Access controls are your first line of defense against data breaches. Inquire about the vendor's access policies to restrict data access to authorized personnel only. Regularly review and update user permissions to prevent unauthorized access, minimizing the risk of internal threats.

How Invoca ensures access control

Our policies and platform security adhere to the latest industry standards, ensuring data accessibility only to authenticated users. We provide secure data processing through access controls, logging and monitoring, auditability, threat and vulnerability management, encryption, incident management, and third-party audit. 

4. How Does the Tool Comply with Data Protection Regulations?

Marketing data is subject to various regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. Ensure your vendor's AI tool complies with these regulations, providing you with confidence in legal compliance and protecting your brand reputation.

Invoca complies with data protection regulations

Businesses across healthcare, government, and banking trust Invoca in large part because of our commitment to data security, privacy, and compliance. Invoca is:

  • SOC 2 Type 2 certified, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant.
  • PCI DSS, Privacy Shield, and TRUSTe certified.
  • Supports two-factor authentication and SAML.
  • Controls for call recording, data redaction, and data access.
  • Prioritizes consumer privacy through local storage in US and European data centers.

You can learn more about Invoca’s commitment to security, compliance, and data privacy here.

5. Can You Explain Your Incident Response Plan?

No one can predict when a data breach might occur. A solid incident response plan is crucial. Seek clarity on the vendor's procedures for detecting, responding to, and mitigating the impact of a security incident, ensuring a swift and effective resolution.

Invoca’s data breach response plan

Invoca has a comprehensive data breach response plan in place to minimize the impact of any potential security incidents. The plan is designed to ensure that Invoca can quickly and effectively respond to any security threats, while also minimizing the potential impact on its customers. The plan consists of several key components, including a dedicated security team that is available to respond to any incidents, a detailed incident response plan that outlines the steps to be taken in the event of a breach, and regular security awareness training for all employees to ensure that they are equipped to identify and report potential threats. In the event of a breach, we ensure immediate and ongoing communication with the affected parties.

6. What Data Ownership and Usage Policies Exist?

Understanding data ownership is fundamental. Clarify how the vendor uses your data and ensure it aligns with your organization's privacy policies. This helps prevent any unintended usage of your marketing or customer data that could lead to legal consequences.

Invoca does not sell your customer data

Your data is your data, and you retain full ownership and control over it. Invoca does not sell or market your customers’ data to third parties in any way. View our full privacy policy here.

7. How Does the Tool Implement Data Minimization?

Collecting only what's necessary is key to data privacy. Ensure the AI tool adheres to the principle of data minimization, processing only the essential information needed for its intended purpose. This reduces the risk of data exposure and aligns with privacy best practices.

Invoca data minimization

Invoca only collects the Caller ID of the inbound caller as personal data. Invoca complies with GDPR regulations and has a comprehensive key management policy. We use proprietary browser and server-side attribution technologies to pair a user’s session data with their potential inbound call. Invoca has documented policies and procedures for data protection and privacy of personal information, aligned to industry standards.

8. What Are Your Data Retention Policies?

Over time, accumulated data can become a liability. Establish clear data retention policies and verify that the AI tool complies with them. Regularly review and delete unnecessary data to minimize the risk of exposure and enhance overall data hygiene.

Invoca has data retention policies in place

Invoca stores calls and call transcripts for internal queries (and access for subpoenas) for approximately 26 months. The current roll-off process is manual and happens approximately quarterly. Call recordings and call transcripts available to customers on their platform for 25 months.

9. How Do Third-Party Integrations Address Security?

If the AI tool integrates with third-party services — which most marketing tools do — assess how these integrations adhere to security and privacy standards. This step is crucial to ensure that the interconnected ecosystem maintains the same level of security as the AI tool itself.

Invoca and third-party integrations

All vendors that are onboarded with Invoca are subjected to a security review by our Information Security (InfoSec) department. When using third-party integrations, always check the policies with those vendors separately to make sure they meet your required standards.

10. Is Your AI Explainable?

When it comes to AI-powered martech, a huge consideration is the explainability of the algorithms used. Marketers need to understand not just what the AI tool is doing but also why it's making specific decisions. 

This transparency isn’t just a matter of optimizing marketing strategies — it's integral to data security and privacy. When marketers can comprehend the reasoning behind decisions the AI makes, they’re better equipped to identify potential biases, errors, or unexpected outcomes that may compromise data security. Explainability also ensures that the AI tool aligns with ethical standards, mitigating the risk of inadvertently using or processing sensitive information in ways that may breach privacy regulations.

Invoca’s AI is explainable to the end user

The decisions Invoca’s AI makes are explainable and transparent, and not just to engineers. Unlike most AI, Invoca Signal AI is not a black box — you can view AI accuracy scores in the Invoca platform and see the reasons why the AI made its decisions. 

As you embrace the transformative power of AI martech, it's imperative to prioritize data security and privacy. By asking these 10 crucial questions, you can safeguard your organization and your customer data while ensuring increased AI adoption in the future. Because in the world of AI-powered marketing, success begins with secure foundations. 

Learn more about our commitment to data security and privacy here or schedule a personalized consultation

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