In January of 2014, President Obama commissioned a 90-day study on the effects Big Data on
government, individuals, businesses, and consumers (White House, 2014). The
report evaluated the state of Big Data and its sociotechnical implications. It included several policy recommendations.
The policy recommendations included:
·
Advance the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights
·
Pass national data breach legislation
·
Extend privacy protections to non-U.S. Persons
·
Ensure data collected on students in school is used for educational purposes
·
Expand technical expertise to stop
discrimination
·
Amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
While these recommendations are favorable to the protecting
the rights of individuals in with regards to Big Data, they do not go far
enough. As is apparent in recent days,
Presidential orders and agency policies are a temporary measure. To ensure long-term protection legislation is
required, or perhaps a constitutional amendment. While the Fourth Amendment is currently being interpreted as a right to privacy, that
may also change. The United States needs
a constitutional amendment stating the rights of the population with regards to
privacy.
It is reasonable for an organization, government or company,
to be required to disclose data collected on individuals. For example, if a college chooses to track information
on its students the students should be aware of the information being retained, who is viewing that
information, and for what purpose. The
balance between advancing knowledge and the right to privacy should be addressed through a variation of informed
consent.
The report does accurately recognize the opportunities that
Big Data enables. There are many opportunities where analyzing medical information
can lead to health-related improvements. However, people are typically very
concerned about privacy and access to health information. There are many instances where an individual
keeps a health condition private, and it
only becomes public knowledge after the individual’s death.
Until legislation, it
is the burden of each to protect their
privacy. There are many ways to protect privacy
online (Consumer Reports, 2017). Some steps include
avoiding free Wi-Fi, locking devices using longer PINs, enabling
automatic updates of devices, using a password manager (such as LastPass), and
monitoring social media standings (such as group membership and privacy
settings). Many recommendations (such as
shredding documents with sensitive data) are not new. More advanced approaches to ensuring privacy
include the use of anonymizing browsers, such as the Tor Browser (Griffith, 2017).
Privacy is viewed
by many as an inalienable right. If an
individual is willing to forfeit that right in exchange for some good or
service (such as better movie recommendations) that should be a conscience
decision. As Big Data enables greater value
to marketers (and other organizations),
there is greater likelihood that the consumer's
rights may be compromised. While executive orders may be an effective short-term
solution, legislation should be passed and kept current to protect the rights
of the populous.
References
Consumer Reports. (2017). 66 Ways to
Protect Your Privacy Right Now.
Retrieved from http://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/66-ways-to-protect-your-privacy-right-now/
Griffith,
E. (2017). How to Stay Anonymous Online.
Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363302,00.asp
White
House. (2014). Big Data: Seizing opportunities, preserving values (report for
the President). Washington DC, USA:
Executive Office of the President.[WWW document] http://www. whitehouse.
gov/sites/default/files/docs/big_data_privacy_report_may_1_2014. pdf.
