Ethical and Social Challenges Posed by Big Data
Hello
people!!
Let’s
discuss big data. Well, big data (in simple terms) is exactly how it sounds- a
lot of complex data, created by a lot of different people. And like everything
else, there are issues around big data.
This week,
we’ll be looking at ethical and social issues surrounding big data.
Data privacy
is a main ethical challenge. Identity theft and fraud are just a couple of the
problems faced resulting from the collection of people’s data.
Use of data
without permission is another concern. Companies storing big data need to make
sure they have permission and ensure people are informed about how their data is used.
These ethical
challenges could result in:
-
Loss
in trust
-
Harm
to individuals
-
Misleading
-
Legal
issues
Not good
for any company.
Social
challenges include discrimination. Data needs to be examined responsibly, but unfortunately
this is not always the case. Let’s say, for example, a company uses data to
hire employees. The company must ensure their data is not biased against genders
or ethnicity.
A real-life
example of where a company did not ensure their data was being used correctly
is Amazon. In 2018, Amazon launched a facial recognition software, ‘Rekognition’.
It identified that 28 members of congress were criminals, with the majority of
the misidentified being people of colour. This was a huge issue for Amazon, and
they put it down to being a problem with the software.
But this is
not the only time, there have been numerous amounts of racial bias within these
technologies.
Bit of advice:
Always make sure you know what your data is being used for. It’s extremely
scary how much companies can know just from us accepting cookies or signing up
to platforms, so educate yourself!!
Well, that’s
all from me, hope you enjoyed😊.
Until next
time,
Saoirse
PS. If I've left you feeling curious and wanting to learn more about Big Data, here's a short video on it:
Absolutely brilliant! An enjoyable read, thanks for the advice :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post!
ReplyDelete