In this week's readings, Bryant et al. (2008) see the world as being "data driven" while Bollier (2010) discusses "the promise and perils" of using big data for "nowcasting."
- How do you think the use of data should be managed so the promise outweighs the perils?
- Whose job is it to do this?
Note: Both of these readings are in the red course notes book.
Consumers should be warned about the collection of bahaviour data. For example, like buying behaviour and recommendations, when the customer signs up for a online store, the customer should have the option to either let the store to save preferences or not. This will mitigate customers from reacting to “how do they know what I want?” feeling. If they are aware of the online store saving their preferences and their previous purchases, they won’t react to it in a bad way but will think it’s very handy for the customer. I had a similar experience where I was shopping for computer parts online. I clicked on an item to “add to cart” and it recommended me what others purchased that was related to the item. Example, if I clicked on certain CPU, it would recommend me a motherboard that will fit with the CPU that others have purchased. I thought this was very handy at the time because you have to do a certain amount of research when buying computer parts and it gave me suggestions on what parts I should buy.
ReplyDeleteOverall I think it should be the company’s job to manage Big Data and inform users of this and give the users the option to let them store that kind of data. eg. Online store, social media. The government should be more involved because of privacy violations. The governments will be able to enforce a law such as consumers should have more privacy online or something along those lines. If they are able to stop everyone in NZ to stop download via p2p, I don’t see why they can’t do this…
Some of the promises of utilising big data as canvassed by Collier (2010) are: Now-casting (using big data to predict future trends before they occur); finding non-intuitive correlations such as the (hypothetical) correlation between customers buying nappies and beer; the ability to find new micro behaviours such as the role of peer recommendations in purchasing decisions; and the ability for more targeted marketing through behavioural advertising. However, these benefits are tempered by Bollier’s concerns such as privacy and consumer dislike with behavioural analysis. Bryant et al. (2008) also discuss other perils of big data such as: the inefficiency of data communication; data algorithm inaccuracy; and security.
ReplyDeleteThree ways that the use of data could be managed to achieve Bollier’s positive outcomes are through investment in technological improvement, improved communication and optional participation, and policy formation. Investment in technological improvement, especially in the areas of data communication and algorithm improvement which would help to mitigate many of Bryant et al’s technical challenges of big data. When it comes to technological investment non-governmental entities (such as private business or international standard setting bodies) are the best groups for the job. Firstly because international standard setters such as ISO can cut across international borders and secondly because private businesses are likely to invest in the most profitable technological investment.
As Steven pointed out, managing communication and optional participation, especially in the areas such as behavioural advertising which processes data for individuals, is extremely important for managing consumer expectations with privacy. One example where Google has improved consumer communication and the option for participation is with instituting the data liberation front (http://www.dataliberation.org/), who are responsible for privacy management tools such as Google Dashboard. However, although communication is appropriate when big data is being used against a single consumer, it is questionable whether improved communication improves the management of large sets of big data whose purpose is to now-cast or find trends on a macro level. When the data isn’t being tailored to individuals and it is not obvious that they are using your data, do consumers care?
This is where policy formation is extremely important because it is the opportunity to set out the principals that govern data collection and data use such as policies surrounding data anonymisation, data collection being for a purpose, and the storage of big data. Implementing policies around big data helps to mitigate many big data perils because privacy, security, and data algorithm concerns can be explicitly outlined. In terms of policy formation and communication, Steven brings up a great point that the government is in the best position to both interpret what society expects out of the protection of data and regulate its use.
I agree with Steven, When looking at the consumer side of transactions or the data that is kept. the preference option or related items become more of a handy thing as opposed to a breach of privacy in information that is kept about you.
ReplyDeleteThe promise of big data to enable the use of real-time data correlations making effective business decisions is not limited to business but to anyone. the peril of that information being available to google which is public is more a benefit. you can see how rich the information is.
In terms of whose job it is? Steven has it spot on. A mix of business and government accountability and responsibility is the way to go. business use information as much as the government, but have the ability to make sure information is being properly used.