Unilever : We respect people’s data. We want industry to as well

When you download a pizza delivery or ride-hailing app and agree to its terms, the app learns a lot about you: the fact that you have the latest iPhone, for example, who you bank with, your network of friends and family, where you live and possibly where you work too.

With every interaction, the algorithm gets to know you a little better; it won't be long before it learns that you like to go out or eat when you get back. When you hail a cab, it knows it's 2:00 am. With access to other data, it could work out that you're in a dangerous part of the city, far from home and in the rain.

It is the company's approach to data ethics that will determine how it chooses to use this information. On the one hand, if the company's priority is safety, it could use this data to protect you (making sure you are picked up first). On the other hand, it could raise its charges instead, since the algorithm knows that, in situations like these, you are statistically more likely to accept them.

With this regard, the guide's first principle is that data usage should respect the people behind the data. It urges companies to strive to understand the interests of all parties and use consumer data to improve people's lives.