Should Users Fear Big Data's Reach?

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Big Data is a technological development that is permeating every faction of IT, including connected servers, mobile applications and virtualization. Every day, end-users and businesses willingly offer up massive amounts of personal data, often without really considering the implications of doing so.

"I’m wondering if we’re actually underestimating a deep set of anxieties," Peter Woodward, co-founder and director of Quest Associates, recently asked a panel of entrepreneurs from big data-centric companies at an MIT analytics event.

Most of the panel was candid in their answers. ’I don’t think you can really understand until you see the scale of the data that is being collected how much about them [users] is being tracked by these apps," said FitnessKeeper Data Scientist Nicholas Arcolano. He pointed out the popular GPS-based app, Waze, which leverages user data to provide real-time traffic analytics. That app is free, but Arcolano said offering up user data is a real trade-off.

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"You’re giving something up, and people aren’t making that choice consciously,’ Arcolano said.

Bridj CEO Matthew George cited recent leaked information from rideshare company Uber, information that showed just how much data the company collects from its users. "That was really scary for me," he said.

However, MIT Professor Marta Gonzalez said data collection reaches beyond tech companies and into large institutions – particularly government.

"Government has the data, your data, it already has it. Could we have it too? We want to do transportation developing, would you share your data with us?" She reasoned.