The Ethical and Social Challenges of Big Data

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to another post! Today’s post is all about Big Data and the challenges it presents. 

Big Data is the large diverse set of information that grows at ever-increasing rates. It incorporates what is known as the 3 V's, the volume of information, the velocity of the information created and collected, and the variety of information being covered.

It is recognised by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) that “big data comes with big responsibility and therefore appropriate data protection safeguards must be in place”. Big Data has valuable potential for businesses however, it poses significant risks to the protection of fundamental rights and data privacy.

Companies can be so focussed on understanding, storing and analysing their data that they forget the importance of data security. Customers rely on the reassurance that their data is not used in a way that will undermine their own personal privacy. If a company’s conduct in dealing with Big Data is perceived as less than ethical, it can affect its reputation, customer relationships, and its revenues. To resolve this major problem, companies are encouraged to recruit professionals to ensure their data and customer information is protected.  

Big Data practices which lack an ethical foundation can lead to social cooling. This is the idea that “if you feel you are being watched, you change your behaviour”. This may limit desire to think or speak freely and therefore bringing about chilling effects on society.

The ownership of data is another ethical issue of big data. As it is collected from many sources, it is not always clear who owns the data.

If you’d like more information about big data and its implications check out the following abstract from the “Ethical Issues in Convert Security and Surveillance Research” at https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S2398-601820210000008007/full/html.

Thanks for reading,

Mollie.