Magazine: Big Data: facts and misconceptions

We hear a lot about the concept of Big Data and just like in the case of other topical issues, misconceptions are also spreading. It didn’t make the situation any better that recently it was announced in the USA that soon US internet service providers will have the right – without the consent of their customers – to use or pass on the personal data of internet service subscribers, which reveal their internet using habits.

First let’s clarify what Big Data is. We talk about Big Data if 1. there is a large volume of data, 2. the data structure is really diverse and 3. the data must be processed very quickly. If a set of data doesn’t meet all three of these criteria, then it should be called Small Data. From a Big Data perspective the individual and their personal characteristics aren’t important.

It is easy to understand that from a Big Data perspective data protection rules are in many cases less important, therefore, according to the experts of KÜRT Zrt., the field of data protection is overregulated. At the moment the European regulation is that no data that is related to its owner in any way can be stored or processed without the data owner’s permission. In the USA it is the other way round – if a person doesn’t forbid data use, it can be used freely.

Those Europeans who wish to benefit from services which are base on the processing of Big Data – e.g. when one is driving and a message is sent to the car’s ‘computer’ that there is a traffic jam a few hundred meters ahead, recommending an alternative route to take – will need to give their consent to having their personal data processed.

It must also be mentioned that due to these rules, the companies that process such data will face increased administrative, communication, security and reporting burden. The question is: Will they be able to offer services of the same quality as now, free of charge? Or will they start asking money for them? One thing is for sure: the world is going forward, Big Data processing algorithms are becoming smarter and they can help us in many fields of our everyday life.