'Obsession' Around Privacy Said to Affect Big Data Collection but Some Say It's Warranted
There's an "obsession around the issue of privacy" that has sometimes "derailed" efforts to use data to address critical issues such as combating child abuse, improving education and life-saving medical research, said a panelist during a George Mason University School of Law discussion on the use of big data. Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said that "too often we're worried about too much data being collected about individuals" when instead people should be asking if there are some communities where not enough data -- or not enough good quality data -- is being collected. Others said scrutiny was warranted.
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Robert Schoshinski, assistant director of the FTC Privacy and Identity Protection Division, cited the commission's big data report released in January (see 1601060042 and 1601070002). He said big data analysis can help improve opportunities in education, to obtain credit and even whether people would follow medical treatment. He said big data can be used to deny credit or benefits to certain populations or expose certain information like a person's religion or sexual orientation when that person doesn't want such information released. He said the report was designed to have people who use and provide data to think about such issues and about compliance and potential impacts from big data.
Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky said it's important to think about the human dimension. For instance, he said he once asked a consumer advocate about the benefits of using smart meters such as for energy conservation and efficiency. But the advocate said he worried about how the utility company could turn off power to a home through the smart meter if a homeowner didn't pay a bill or even learn that power was turned on in a particular residence when it shouldn't have been. Polonetsky said big data may have larger societal benefits but people still need to recognize the "micro factors."
ITIF wrote a paper saying data isn't just "the new oil," it's also the "new oxygen," noted Castro, but the focus on privacy could create a data divide. He added that some progress has been made in some areas. One company, for example, is trying to give car loans to people who have no money or collateral by just putting a device on a vehicle that disables the car if payments aren't made, he said.
But Castro said policies are another problem that could inhibit action whether it's geographic or demographic. While Hispanics make up 16 percent of the U.S. population, they're only about 1 percent of participants in clinical health trials, said Castro: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are also underrepresented in health issues because current laws don't collect information about them as much as they collect data about other populations. He said benefits won't be shared universally unless there's strategic policy on some types of big data collection.