Facebook scandal reveals the danger of big data, and how blockchain can help

At least a few academics and tech gurus have been warning for years that big data is the world’s new most important resource and no one seems to know who it legally belongs to. While Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that “privacy is a human right” and others agree, in principle, that every individual should have complete control and rights over their personal data, legislation in this area remains in its infancy.

It’s an issue that’s swung full force into public consciousness recently thanks to the Cambridge Analytica fiasco surrounding Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s resulting testimony before Congress. The case, in which mass amounts of personal data collected by Facebook fell into the hands of a third party that used it to sway public opinion in the run up to the 2016 presidential election, highlights the dangers of an unregulated big data market.

Far beyond violating the theoretical rights of individuals, companies that “mine” and trade in personal data may be an existential threat to democracy and even free speech. Rather than human-shaped robots taking over the planet, perhaps this is the technological dystopia we should have seen coming: a world in which personal data is used to effectively and reliably manipulate the minds of the masses.

But there is reason to hope. There is significant consensus, even among those who profit from big data, that each individual ought to have the rights to his own data and be able to trust companies like Facebook and Apple not to share it with actors of ill intent. Accordingly, legislative initiatives are gaining steam, particularly in Europe, where the European Union General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) just came into effect, allowing for the punishment of companies who mishandle personal data with fines of up to 4% of their global revenue.

That may not sound like much, but for Facebook, that’s at least $1.6 billion — a blow even to the giant of social media.

But even as regulation moves forward, there is also a healthy recognition of the benefits big data brings both consumers and businesses. The employment of advanced AI to analyze big data has put Amazon on top of the internet retail market, giving consumers a quick, reliable way to order just about anything. The products made possible by AI and the collection of data have made life easier, driving both efficiency and growth to the point where it’s no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.

So, it seems that what’s needed is a new balance between those who control the data and the people who provide it — between the benefits big data has brought us and the damage some would seek to do with it. And here enters an interesting and promising way to utilize data: blockchain, where all of it gets decentralized.

Senno is demonstrating the advantages of such an approach with an open application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK) for highly-advanced sentiment analysis. The open character of the Senno platform based on NEO means that business get the benefits of analyzing masses of data gathered on Web 2.0 while that data remains decentralized and Senno users and token holders get a say in its development. An additional benefit of the blockchain technology has made Senno’s sentiment analysis far cheaper and more accessible than anything model that’s come before, making it plausible for individuals to use the platform as well as businesses, leveling the playing field between the two by giving them the same capabilities.

It’s a brave new world out there, but multiple approaches are surfacing to restore balance in the control of big data to the benefit of all.

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