The Big Business of Big Data
(Reading Response)
Analyzing big data is a booming industry in today’s society. The ability to read and interpret internet data in large amounts is a strong skill to develop. According to a New York Times’ article, “The Age of Big Data,” there are over 190,000 workers who are experts in deep analytics and there are “more than 1.5 million more data-literate positions.” Businesses such as Walmart and Kohls utilize data collections on their customers from in-store and online programs. They have statisticians compute and decide when it is the best time to put stuff out on store shelves and when the best time to cut prices is in terms of their customers and competitors. Police departments have also had an increase in hiring these experts. The departments uses their expertise to crunch numbers and data by looking at past criminal activities, present social happenings such as: concerts, festivals, sporting events, etc.; and other sociological information to try and formulate where the “hot spots” of that day’s activities will be so they can send extra force to that location before something goes down. We are migrating towards a “data-driven discover and decision-making” society (Lohr, “The Age of Big Data”).
Google and Facebook are really good examples for businesses that have sort of become not only the stepping stone to data collecting, but have also somewhat mastered it in a certain sense. Both websites have developed extremely complicated algorithms that personalize your experience with their website to determine your overall satisfaction. They do this by collecting cookies on your web browser. But sometimes, these algorithms they cultivate are flawed. This can be an error due to “false discoveries” in your data they collected on you (Lohr).
How do “false discoveries” happen?
We've all done it (or at least I have) on multiple occasions. False discoveries in data happen when the actually reality of a human person does not link with the data collected about them. So, when you look up or click on something you did not necessarily intend to click on or you do not necessarily have an interest in, but you clicked it anyways. They can also happen when you are doing research for school on something you have no particular interest in outside of school. So maybe I am assigned to study of recruitment for terrorist groups in the Middle East and I go to different terrorist group’s websites to try and collect information. The next thing you know, you might have the SWAT come flying through your windows and slamming down your door because they think you’re a terrorist when in all actuality, you’re just a college student trying to pass a psychology class.
Some example on Facebook could be an instance where I might click on someone because they posted something weird and then the next day you wanted to show a few of your friends, so you clicked on that person a few more times. A few days later, you realize that person is now making a dominant present on your newsfeed.
Another example with online shopping, you might have been sent a Forever 21 link that your friend wanted your opinion on or your friend was using your computer for online shopping, but you hate Forever 21. Then on Facebook, your ads might all be about Forever 21 and similar stores because the computer picked up cookies saying you like crappy clothes for Forever 21.
*Note: Most of the time, data collectors can decipher when it is just a random occurrence from the actual real data they want, but there are occasions when this deciphering becomes tricky and misleading.
So where does this leave us as data creators if the websites we are using our tracking our every move? Well it is not just websites tracking us, our own government is too. We have the National Security Agency (NSA) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), who are continuously collecting information about us through our internet use. They can track what we look-up on search engines like Google and they can see what we like on Facebook and YouTube. This constant surveillance can make us feel uneasy and a little disturbed. In Kate Crawford’s article, “The Anxieties of Big Data,” she coins the term “surveillance anxiety,” which she said is the “fear that all the data we are shedding every day is too revealing of our intimate selves, but may also misrepresent us.”
I can honestly say sometimes I think I have surveillance anxiety and I think sometimes that people are going to judge me for my random google searches — not that they are anything alarming, but I am an avid googler of hedgehogs and teacup pigs (they are just so stinking cute!). Or sometimes, I will be with my friends and we will think of something super random and kind of weird like how to make a bomb, or we have jokingly asked Siri, “Where is the best place around me to hide a body?” (If you have never done that, you should because it is actually funny and she gives you options as to what type of place you want to hide the body, which is a little weird now that I think about it.)
I have never really been a fan of the iCloud for Apple products for many reasons, but mostly because my family all shares one iTunes account and I do not want to share an external hard drive for my phone with my parents and brothers and I found it alarming that celebrities’ iClouds were hacked and the hackers leaked some of their photos last fall. I am not necessarily worried about hackers leaking inappropriate photos like Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lawrence per say, but I have screenshot intimate and personal conversations with friends and I have a lot of embarrassing or funny pictures of both my friends and myself that I would not want everyone to see. I think we all have some of those and same with the idea of Snapchat; the fact that those pictures and videos never actually get deleted and just sit in a cyber-pool of peoples’ snaps makes me really uncomfortable. Snapchat has thousands of obnoxious and funny selfies of me and my friends.
I think it is hard to decipher what can be public domain and where the line is drawn for personal privacy especially with apps and hard drives like those because we as the users do agree to the terms and policies. And I am sure in Snapchat’s constantly updating terms and agreements that I always agree to without reading, there is probably something about them not being reliable for leaked information or maybe in the future there might be something allowing them to use our photos for commercial use like Instagram. I do not know, who is to say that is not in the near future, but there is this question that are we okay with that? Because I know I am not and I would probably delete my Snapchat if that was the case.
And it is not only us, as the data creators who have anxiety — the collectors have anxiety too. Crawford coined this ideology as “data anxiety” meanng that “no matter how much data they have, it is incomplete” (Crawford, “The Anxieties of Big Data”). It is almost like Pokémon: “gotta catch ‘em all,” but with data it is “gotta collect it all.” There is no way for data collectors and statisticians to be able to collect and analyze everyone’s data. Every day when we surf the web we are creating more cookies and more data. It’s a vicious cycle between the collectors asking, “What can we tell?” and us asking, “What can they tell about me?” (Crawford). Collectors think that the more data they have, the better and more accurate the statisticians’ results will be and then there is more potential for successful business decisions; but we live in such a fast-pace and changing society that data is updating as fast as we are refreshing our web browsers. This anxiety is a very real thing and I do not think it should be overlooked. I think there needs to be more defined laws between what the government and other data collecting programs should legally be able to collect about us and where the line is being crossed and as a data creator, I think we need to be more responsible and aware of what we are putting out there.
Sites Used:
Lohr, Steve. “The Age of Big Data.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Sunday Review&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article>.
Crawford, Kate. “The Anxieties of Big Data.” The New Inquiry. The New Inquiry. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-anxieties-of-big-data/>.
“Statistics for the Internet Age: The Story Behind Optimizely’s New Stats Engine.” Optimizely Blog Statistics for the Internet Age The Story Behind Optimizelys New Stats Engine Comments. 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://blog.optimizely.com/2015/01/20/statistics-for-the-internet-age-the-story-behind-optimizelys-new-stats-engine/>.
Pictures:
“Balloons vs. Drones: Facebook and Google Battle to Globalize the Internet.” Mast Media. 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://mastmedia.plu.edu/2014/04/16/balloons-vs-drones-facebook-and-google-battle-to-globalize-the-internet/>.
“Funny and Cute Hedgehogs.” Chill Out Point Funny Image Galleries and Artwork RSS. Web. 11 Apr. 2015. <http://www.chilloutpoint.com/animals/funny-and-cute-hedgehogs.html>.
