How your personal info is being collected and leaked quietly
As the author of ‘Critical Questions For Big Data’ asks in his article, “Will large-scale search data help us create better tools, services, and public goods? Or will it usher in a new wave of privacy incursions and invasive marketing?” Big data bring huge benefits in numerous researches but also raises public privacy concerns, which reminds me of research I participated in — totally change my cognition towards big data.
Our research is about exploring the relationship between students’ study habits, living patterns, and their GPAs based on their personal information and Wi-Fi connection data. With the help of these data, we found many interesting facts such as the strong relationship between students’ regularity on having lunches, taking shower, and their grades, indicating the importance of life regularity. Indeed, I would say that the research could not be conducted without the big data from students.
Although these data provide us with huge benefits when conducting research, I still strongly doubt its ethical correctness and the effeteness of its privacy protection measure. The legality of collecting students’ Wi-Fi data comes from the terms and conditions when students firstly connect their devices to school Wi-Fi, which allows the university to collect data for research use. However, the term is inconspicuously hidden under hundreds of incomprehensible law terms. No one would actually read all the terms one by one.
At the same time, although the school has encrypted the students’ IDs to protect privacy, they can actually be easily decoded. For example, I know that my roommate set up his alarm at 7 a.m., which means the first Wi-Fi connection data appears at 7. And I also know his phone type as iPhone, which will also eliminate many possibilities. With other information like a class schedule, I can reduce the scope to only several student IDs. Finally, I know that he has lunch at the canteen regularly instead of ordering take-out. This helps me confirm one of the student IDs as his. Now, his information has been totally decoded and I know all his private and even sensitive information like GPA. This indicates that anonymity is far from enough and other measures should be taken to protect privacy.
Danah Boyd said, “On one hand, Big Data is seen as a powerful tool to address various societal ills, offering the potential of new insights into areas as diverse as cancer research, terrorism, and climate change. On the other, Big Data is seen as a troubling manifestation of Big Brother, enabling invasions of privacy, decreased civil freedoms, and increased state and corporate control.” While increasingly benefiting our life, big data can also invade our privacy and have ethical concerns, which we should never give up fighting for in exchange for temporary benefits.
