New Delhi, Feb. 2 -- Today, data privacy has evolved from a regulatory checkbox to the very foundation of business trust. For much of our digital journey, products and solutions rarely followed a privacy-first approach. But over the years, this approach has quietly, but decisively, changed. In terms of B2B matchmaking and product discovery, where millions of businesses are cataloguing their product line on the marketplace, data security becomes even more important. As you move geographies, the law of the land changes and makes it mandatory for businesses operating within their areas to be compliant with the local data laws. A data-secure platform, adhering to data security laws, and providing added security, becomes the need of the hour.
Building a data-secure platform
Robust privacy protocols are the building block for any customer (both buyer and seller )'s trust in a marketplace. Here is how to do it:
Data Mapping & Inventory: Conducting comprehensive data mapping exercises and identifying right datasets for collection, storage and processing helps in streamlining the whole process at step one. The existing policy landscape outlines clear instructions on this as well. With this, the product design job becomes much easier if you know what data needs to be protected, erased, or used after consent. A purpose-limited collection which clearly indicates data collected only for specific needs like matchmaking, verification, and service delivery, no sale/rental to third parties without explicit consent, puts the whole product design structure in place.
Privacy by design principles: A privacy-by-design approach can help in integrating privacy considerations into the existing tech stack and preempt potential conflicts between existing tools and privacy requirements. IndiaMART's seller dashboard lets sellers manage their privacy via Notification Settings, where they can toggle buyer alerts, inquiry sharing, or profile visibility with simple switches. In addition to this, giving freedom to users to dictate how they can use or share their data can not only work in favour of organisational reputation, but also prevent any potential compliance breach. It's like giving users' data a 'do not disturb' sign or at least giving them the choice to do so.
Security-First Architecture: Zero-Trust Architecture and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can have strict usage and control of data. This not only ensures that company employees can access the data relevant to their work. For instance, the AI-generated summary of a Pharma Supplier call can be restricted only to the servicing agent assigned to that account; any other agent can't access it. This prevents internal data hopping, ensuring that any confidential information doesn't get shared across multiple departments. With technology, even internal AI models can be moderated to access the specific data points they need to function, preventing broad data leaks.
Why does it matter
The Indian MSME ecosystem has more than 6.5 crore registered businesses. Out of this, 95% are micro-sized, which are small in nature, operate with limited budgets, limited infrastructure, a small team, and a very basic knowledge of technology. These businesses lack the resources to build their own security infrastructure. Added to it, what proportion of these 95% sellers actually understand the privacy complexities and the compliance they need to have.
Having a security-first marketplace can encourage such small businesses to join and enjoy the inherited compliance and platform's security certifications. Beyond this, partnering with a secure platform helps you attract trusted buyers, expand market access, and implement tech solutions that would otherwise be too expensive or difficult to afford. With this, a small-scale exporter in India can also sell to a Tier-1 German automotive company, even if the buyer requires ISO 27001 and GDPR-level data logging. Association with a security-first marketplace, the supplier inherits the platform's ISO 27001/27701 and 22301 certifications.
Particularly, in B2B, trust quite literally shortens the sales cycle. With strong privacy practices in place, sellers stay longer, enterprise customers engage faster, international partnerships become viable, and deal velocity improves. A Deloitte report estimates that by 2027, privacy-compliant B2B platforms could capture 60% market share, clearly reflecting how privacy-first designs are a priority for users.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from TechCircle.