Reference no: EM133709472

Introduction to Business Analytics

Assessment Description

Consider information below regarding Vodafone Italy, a European telecom company.

Read the case study carefully and using the resources listed, together with your own research, complete:

Assessment Overview

Part 1 - Written Case Study
Vodafone fined over 12 million Euro by Italian DPA

In 2020, the Italian data protection supervisory authority ordered Vodafone to pay a fine in excess of Euro 12,250,000 on account of having unlawfully processed the personal data of millions of users for telemarketing purposes. As well as having to pay the fine, the company is required to implement several measures set out by the Garante in order to comply with national and EU data protection legislation.

The investigations carried out by the Garante brought to light major criticalities of a ‘structural' nature having to do with the violation not only of consent requirements, but also of key principles such as accountability and data protection by design as set forth in the EU GDPR. These criticalities could be traced down to the processing activities performed both in respect of Vodafone's customer database and - more broadly - with regard to prospective users of electronic communications services.

More specifically, one of the most worrying findings of the investigations was the use of fake telephone numbers or numbers that were not registered with the ROC (i.e. the National Consolidated Registry of Communication Operators) in order to place the marketing calls. This practice is under Vodafone's own spotlight and is seemingly related to a shady set of unauthorised call centres that carry out telemarketing activities in utter disregard of personal data protection legislation.

Additional resource: See Telemarketing article on Brief

As an analyst within Vodafone Italy, you have been tasked with considering ways in which customer data can be used to further assist Vodafone Italy with its marketing campaigns.

These tasks are now subject to a review by an external regulatory body given Vodafone Italy's recent data breach.

As a Data Analyst, you have been asked to justify, to the external regulatory body, why Vodafone Italy should be allowed to use customer data in this manner.

Assessment Instructions
Industry Report (1800 words, 25 marks) - Individual
Prepare your report justifying why Vodafone Italy should be allowed to use customer data for internal marketing but also for use by third parties, using the following headings:

Data Security and Privacy

Discuss how Vodafone Italy will address data security, privacy and accuracy issues associated with the use of the database in the way proposed in the brief. In so doing, refer to the GDPR.

Ethical Considerations

Appraise the ethical considerations behind whether the customer has the option to opt in or opt out of having their data used and stored in the way proposed by this analytics brief.

Formulate an overview of other ethical issues of gathering, maintaining and using the data in the way proposed in the brief above.

Data Usability

Evaluate how stakeholders, including end customers, will benefit from the use of their customer data for marketing purposes. In so doing, refer to descriptive, predictive and prescriptive applications of the data available and the data analytics software tools this would require.

Artificial Intelligence

Provide a conjecture on how developments in AI will intersect with data security, privacy and ethics, especially in light of your proposed analytics project.

Note that it is a requirement to support each of your key points with references (both academic and "grey" material). Use the resources provided as well as your own research to assist with data collection and data privacy discussions.

Part 2 - Video Assessment

You will be asked to video yourself answering a short quiz (3-4 questions) about your written response to Part 1 of the assessment and the course in general. The video assessment is a timed assessment lasting 10 minutes.

The questions will be long-answer questions where the student will be asked to verbally elaborate on their written paper and justify some of the choices and recommendations.

The student will talk through their response and their logic to demonstrate a deeper knowledge of their written paper and the theoretical course material.

Students will provide a written response to the questions as they are being asked

As students are writing their answer, the student will talk through how they are formulating their response, why they are raising these points and how this relates to the case and course materials

No backtracking is allowed once a question is completed

Students are advised to prepare thoroughly for assessment and have a good knowledge of their paper and the course material