“Our ambition is to be one of the most responsible and impactful businesses in the world.” Those were the words of chief executive Mario Greco when Zurich Insurance Group issued what it called an “industry-leading” data protection commitment, which goes beyond legal requirements and promises four things to customers. The company’s data pledge offers assurances that Zurich will keep customers’ data safe; it will never sell personal data; it will not share personal data without being transparent about it; and it will put the data to work so Zurich can better protect policyholders. Full transparency means customers will always be notified not only if their personal data is shared but also with whom. In addition, Zurich said any third party with whom it does share personal data is bound by an enforceable contract setting out how the information can be used. “In today’s digital world, winning our customers’ trust is dependent on cutting-edge cybersecurity and transparent, market-leading data protection policies,” said Greco. “For 150 years, customers have trusted Zurich to do the right thing, and with this new pledge, our approach to data commitment honors this trust with transparency around how we use customers’ personal data.” Meanwhile, ‘putting data to work’ translates to leveraging insights from the data to allow Zurich to provide innovative services designed to help prevent incidents. “No single actor can solve complex societal issues like globalization, digitalization, or climate change alone,” asserted the group CEO. “To help manage the risks and benefit from the opportunities they present, we must take bold action. Our new data commitment is in line with this ambition. It goes to the heart of how we behave as a business, and we believe it is just the right thing to do.”
Greco has set out four pledges to customers over their data, aiming to maintain trust via transparency, according to CEO Mario Greco. Zurich vowed it would safeguard customer data, would never sell personal information and, when sharing data, would be transparent about it. The firm also said it would use customer data to develop innovative services that would help prevent incidents.