Week 3: The Scary Truth
Big data and informaton privacy go hand and hand. Info privacy is like an invisible contract consumers have with other companies or platforms. The consumers trust that the info they are putting on the internet is protected and won’t be sold. That’s where big data comes in, it is the collection and dispersement of collections of data that is grouped and analyzed by tons of un-known comapanies. These companies sell the data and analytics of your information to other companies to do whatebver their hearts desire with the info. Big data is so powerful because of how we use technology and the internet in our daily lives.
If you think about it, we put soooo much info online. Our birthdates, hometowns, friends, pictures, and more. Not to mention what we keep on our phones; credit card info, bank info, sensitive photos. Who really has access to it all? If we don’t really know. The “data brokers” can pull other information too, like medical history or online purchases. This is dangerous for anyone, especially those easiely influenced. What I mean by this is, for example, the elderly. If their info is taken by brokers and sold to, lets say, insurance companies. The companies can use scare tactics on the elderly pertaining to their health records and sell them into medications or treatments based on the information they bought of them. I think it’s just another scam we face in this money hungry country.
My views on how we can limit the harm from big data on both personal and societal levels is to first, know the danger exsists. After that, individuals can take action in the websites and apps they give their information to and what kind of information. Looking at the websites to make sure your info is protceted.
I think the internet business models, commonly or initially used, influence surveillance and data gathering by the fact that they choose money over improvment. It relates to, what I believe, is the money motivation model. If thier goal is to primarily make money- while keeping the app free- they need to sell ad space. Big data companies can sell the info they’ve gathered from, lets say, your search engines or online purchases to the app or web developers to post those dreadful pop-up ads. It’s a nasty cycle, driven by money. Instead, maybe we can think in a more socialist sway and webdevelpoers and such can provide us with free apps and websites to enjoy for just that, ejoyment ;)