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Big Data, Law Enforcement, and Privacy

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by Angela Guess

Ian Small, CDO of Telefonica, recently wrote in The Next Web, “The ability to access unprecedented levels of data from multiple sources is providing organizations with the insights they need to change the world. From healthcare to customer service, product development to education, big data is already starting to provide huge benefits to individuals and societies. One field that will be transformed completely by data is law enforcement. The more intelligence the police and other security forces have at hand, the greater their ability to pick up on criminal activity, spot patterns, preempt wrongdoing and build tighter cases to take to court.  However, as state agencies – and businesses for that matter – start to leverage data and analytics to increasing effect, it doesn’t take long before important privacy issues start to crop up.”

Small goes on, “Indeed, this topic is currently creating headlines in the UK where the government is proposing that security forces be empowered to view the internet browsing records of all UK citizens; a move that would mandate telecoms service providers to keep subscriber browsing history on file for a year. The proposal could also target small scale networks which offer Wi-Fi connections, such as coffee shops, and require them to hand over customers’ confidential personal data tracking their web use. Similarly, in the US there’s a push for new legislation that would create penalties for companies that aren’t able to provide readable user data to authorities.  Never mind a spate of recent headlines around the government’s desire to look inside a certain smartphone.”

He adds, “These examples, more than any others, highlight just how important an issue that privacy is when it comes to our data-powered digital world.  As all that data starts to accumulate, it becomes an incredibly attractive resource that everyone will want access to – the good guys, the bad guys, and everyone in between. Indeed, privacy is an essential concept in democratic societies.”

Read more here.

Photo credit: Flickr

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