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from the I-wonder-if-they-track-sales-of-tin-foil? dept.
http://www.cio.com/article/2977027/intel-reveals-big-datas-dirty-little-secret.html
The article is entitled "Intel reveals big data's dirty little secret" but I read it a little bit differently.
From the article: "Companies are spending billions on tools and engineering to analyse big data, though many are hampered by one little problem: they still don't know what to do with all the data they collect."
This means that, of all the egregious breaches of personal privacy that companies regularly perform (the Target-knows-you're-pregnant-when-your-parents-don't story comes to mind), they have still only scratched the surface of making sense of your information, and using it effectively. Which means that, as Big Data gets people who actually know what they're doing, the more frightening the possibilities become, which is probably only a matter of time.
How would you feel about getting a bunch of targeted spam from divorce lawyers because your wife/husband's personal details were in the big Ashley Madison data leak, before you even heard about it? What if you were the guy who got drunk and put a profile up one time after a big fight but never followed up on it? This is why I don't have a Facebook account.
Original Submission
(Score: 1) by termigator on Saturday August 29 2015, @10:26PM
The data can be beneficial if you have specific queries in mind. I.e. You already have specific targets in mind and need to gather more information about those targets. Of course, for organizations like the NSA, such data gathering is unconstitutional, but it seems like the checks-and-balances of the U.S. govt has failed in this regard.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Sunday August 30 2015, @02:54AM
> The data can be beneficial if you have specific queries in mind. I.e. You already have specific targets^Wpresidential candidates in mind and need to gather more information about those targets^Wpresidential candidates.
FTFY