Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and virtual and augmented reality thechnologies are allowing businesses unprecedented access to their customer’s personal wants, needs and desires, but as for-profit companies ask us to share ever more intimate details, recent breaches have exposed weaknesses in security and caused fear in consumers. After all, if giant companies such as Facebook Inc. and Equifax Inc. can be compromised, whom can we trust?

“Data is like jet fuel,” said Dr. Shannon Vallor (pictured), the William J. Rewak S.J. professor of philosophy at Santa Clara University. “No one who handles jet fuel treats it the way that some companies treat data, but today data can cause disasters on a scale similar to a chemical explosion.”

Vallor joined Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent Accenture Technology Vision event in San Franscisco, where the pair discussed the impact of digitalization as a driver of transformation inside businesses, as well as the future of an increasingly technology-dependent society.

Data can be both constructive or destructive

No one needs a history lesson to know that loss of consumer confidence means loss of sales. In a recent interview with theCUBE, Accenture’s chief technology and innovation officer Paul Daugherty echoes Vallor’s caution. “The trust you build with consumers and workers and others using technology is fundamental to getting the right to deliver these profound intrinsic services that people are demanding,” Daugherty said.

There is economic opportunity for companies who can step up and prove that they are able to keep customer data safe, but gaining consumer trust “goes much deeper than simply having to behave in a lawful manner or satisfy your shareholders, it means actually having to think about whether your technologies are helping people live better lives,” Vallor said.

One silver lining to the current lack of confidence in data-driven businesses is that ethics has become a hot topic of conversation in tech industry circles, with organizations such as New York University’s AI Now Institute leading an effort to develop more ethical design and development. Another is that consumers have become wiser and more aware of the potential power of their personal data. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Vallor, who trusts that the technology developers and the public will find a path forward that works to everyone’s interest. “My hope is … that these forces will come together and create a future for us that we actually want to move into.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Accenture Technology Vision event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE