A Dangerous Necessity

Big data has become one of the most significant issues to be debated. There is little doubt in the importance of big data for marketers and consumers. The use of machine learning and data analysis has enabled a great deal of advancement in marketing accuracy and creating convenience for the consumer. The marketer is able to have highly accurate positioning to the customer based on their preferences and needs depending on the time of the year or based on their previous viewings on the Internet. The experience is enhanced because the customer no longer needs to spend a lot of time surfing on the Internet looking for the products but can now be pushed to products directly. The business perspective is also enhanced because more cost can be saved as now advertisements can be directed towards the consumer with high level kf accuracy. At the same time, other advancements can be procured such as through improving surveillance and preventing crime.

However, there have also been significant concerns with the use of big data especially in terms of privacy. The recent elections meddling by Cambridge Analytica suggests high level of susceptibility to marketing efforts online. The sale of private information is constantly being brokered across different companies and across borders with little regulation and resistance. The problem is two fold. The first is lack of awareness and ability to instigate change from the consumers perspective. Companies do let their customers aware of the policies and actions being taken with their data and private information but there is a great deal of inequality. Customers are still forced to use the company’s products and also that the terms and conditions are so long such that it is difficult to read each term. The second problem is that the legislation are extremely outdated. As seen in this video in Zuckerberg’s questioning all of the congressmen and legislators are entirely unaware of how the Internet works, much less social media platforms.

The solution forward is difficult because legislation is one of the main ways of combatting this issue. Yet, they are limited because they take time to enact. The pace of technological development will always outpace the pace of legislation. It is more dependent on creating an educated populace that understands the implications of how their data and personal information is being used.