John Ferruzzi
AG Healey Wants To Tackle Big Data And Consumer Privacy
This article is all about trying to protect big data privacy. The article begins by saying that whenever a user goes online, he/she leaves a trail of data. Attorney General Marura Healy is the one trying to prevent the abuse of the data and make sure that these users are protected. She made various suggestions and the author concluded with saying that the AG’s office is looking to “tap into the brain power in the commonwealth to come up with new solutions to “protect consumers as data-driven technology continues to flourish”.
A key point that Healy makes is that, “We just need to make sure that big data isn’t being used to give certain consumers an unfair deal based on who they are, where they are or what they do online”. Basically what Healey is saying is that people are targeting certain products to specific consumers based on their location/web browsing habits based on what they have previously typed in on google search.
Another interesting point about this article is by executive director of MIT’s Action Lab, Quentin Palfrey. He said that for individual states to tackle privacy issues, they should create a consumer privacy bill of rights. He says that states should do this because users are frustrated at the thought that their personal information is being used all just because they log into Facebook and like a post.
Another key point was when Persis Ye, of the National Consumer Law Center, raised the issue of whether or not businesses should regulate themselves when it comes to privacy. Yu was skeptical of this self-regulation. He said that consumers need to be a part of the solution when tackling these privacy issues.
This article was very insightful, however, there were a few points that I feel he did not emphasize enough. For example, I wished that the author talked about what kind of consequences come from these privacy issues. Another article from statista.com mentioned that, “by 2018, more than 9 billion dollars will be lost due to payment card fraud, 6.4 billion due to CNP transactions, and 1.8 billion due to counterfeiting”. I also thought the article could have gone into more depth about the challenge of balancing personal privacy with companies digital innovation and the FBI’s clash with Apple over accessing the iPhone of one of the shooters of San Bernardino. The author did not go into much detail here and I feel like it could have been beneficial to helping the reader understand privacy issues.
I think the issue of big data privacy will always be controversial and up for debate no matter who you engage in conversation with. I think it is interesting how this article addresses the "data trail" left once users open an internet browser. I have come across this myself, where I notice ads for certain products appearing on almost all web pages simply based on the fact that I was looking at it once or twice. However, I feel as though this pertains to more of a marketing annoyance rather than a major privacy breach. I do find it strange and somewhat concerning how data companies are able to track every move of a user online and then are able to use that to their advantage, however, it doesn't make me feel completely unsafe. I can see where this may lead to in terms of larger privacy issues, but in terms of the ad campaigns that I personally find, I think that the main objective of why companies do this is slightly overlooked. Nonetheless, I think it would inevitably be better if web browser searches were not to intently tracked by big data companies, even if it might not be a malicious privacy attack.
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