launching a big Big Data initiative. Overview here:
Press release here:
Even by US standards, this looks like a big deal.
On the positive side, there is a strong push in the research
community to take advantage of new techniques of data
analysis for discovery and innovation. It is also a positive
that the research occurs in the open, unclassified world,
as opposed to the alternatives.
But the concerns about privacy and routinized surveillance
are real. Our first introduction to Big Data post-911 was, of
course, "Total Information Awareness," a plan to record and
analyze everything that everybody does with the goal of
uncovering early indicators of future criminal acts.
Big Data initiatives also tend to erode privacy laws as
the effort to promote information "sharing" leads to
increasing pressure on current frameworks that limit
data collection and use. With respect to data that is
personal information, it is not at all clear how Big Data
and the OECD Privacy Guidelines would coexist.
And in the realm of cyber security, there is a big push
underway to grab as much network traffic as possible
to detect and prevent network intrusion.
An early report from the Aspen Institute that looked at
both sides of the Big Data debate is available here:
The White House announcement today does not address
these issues directly, but there are hints that there will be
controversies ahead.
Marc.
Locked
