Harnessing the Power of Employment Data Portability | Argyle

Consumers have the right to control their data.

Yet payroll systems, banks, and credit bureaus who hold extremely valuable data regarding a consumers trustworthiness will tell you it’s much more complicated than that — and to be honest — they’re right.

Managing why, how, and who interacts with your business is a complex enough task let alone the added responsibility of managing easy-to-use and secure data access tools for 3rd parties. While data elements such as income earned, home address, and job history logically belong to an end-user, roadblocks such as inconsistent data formatting, lack of internal development resources and lack of security controls make building data sharing tools much more difficult to execute than meets the eye.

Difficulties aside, the lack of existing infrastructure to share consumer data when requested should not stifle innovation and minimize opportunities for individuals looking for better insurance, financial products, or work opportunities. With GDPR and CCPA offering a glimpse into the future of data ownership, it’s more clear than ever that the power dynamic is shifting to the consumer with the right to data portability and user-consent becoming requirement as opposed to preference.

Q: So, how can a business offer work data portability?

A: By integrating the Argyle Network API — built to provide platforms and businesses an easy, secure, and open way to empower their workforce by giving them easy access to their data.

With an average integration timeline of less than two weeks, Argyle’s Network API allows any platform housing work data to seamlessly integrate into the Argyle Data Network, thereby enabling their workforce the opportunity to select their platform for data sharing in the Argyle Plugin when applying for tailored products and services.

But what’s in it for the business?

Many businesses understand the value propositions surrounding open work data yet lack the resources to efficiently support it. They understand that end-users need this data to gain opportunities, financial or otherwise, in the new world of credit and that end-users will have a higher affinity with companies who make their lives easier.In addition to the above, businesses can participate as both a supplier, as well as a consumer, receiving up-to-date and verified data points directly and willingly by consumers themselves as others join the ecosystem, resulting in less reliance on aggregators and middle men.Outside of the benefits of an open ecosystem, the Argyle Network API is:

• More Secure: End-users are accessing and sharing the data within their platform dashboards with or without business permission today. By integrating with the Network API, businesses can maintain consistent security protocols and retrieve holistic reporting to better understand where and how user data is being used.

• Compliant: Compliance is expensive. As the world shifts toward increased portability, user-consent, and consumer driven ownership of data, the Argyle Network API provides an opportunity to be on the bleeding edge of compliance via a single platform partnership.

• Centralized: Ad-hoc development efforts vary in time, effort, and maintenance. While businesses looking to utilize work data for lending, insurance, and more continue to become increasingly fragmented, Argyle’s Network API offers an opportunity to centralize efforts and allow businesses to focus on their core offering instead of spending valuable time, money, and personnel on API partnerships.

• A Better User Experience: Workers looking to access their data associate poor connectivity with work platforms themselves. By integrating the Network API, businesses save on costly customer service bills when less formal connectivity falls short by providing a more stable connection.

Does Argyle resell data?

It’s important to remember that Argyle does not resell user data to 3rd parties and doesn’t ever plan on doing so. By integrating with Argyle, businesses are allowing Argyle to act as a consent-based data transfer agent for their end-users in a friction-free way. Each user must explicitly grant permission in order to access their data as it’s both legally compliant and creates better incentives for all parties involved.

The new world of work mandates portability

Offering an alternative view to consumer data ownership, it’s important to note that the push toward a more egalitarian approach is not only to allow consumers to protect and control where their data is being accessed, but also to gain new opportunities where current infrastructure falls short. In a world where tailored opportunities are fueled by understanding your work and personal behaviors, it’s time to unlock the data.

Products mentioned

Network API