30th Oct 2017
A lot of information and data is there on the web, and even more inundates into the network each day. For organizations collecting data from individuals, it is of vital importance that proper security measures should be in place to prevent misuse of information. International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted that that by 2020 more than 1.5 billion people would be affected by data invasion, which is indeed worrisome.
For individual victims, data breach can result into loss of confidential information. Whereas for companies, data breach or loss of valuable customer information can erode business image and result into loss of market share as well as customers, owing to mistrust and lack of confidence.
Here we have listed certain privacy concerns surrounding big data that you need to be aware of.
Privacy Breaches – Organizations collect a large volume of data each day. This data is generally analyzed by businesses to provide customized services to their clients or to have better understanding of customer segments. The results can be catastrophic if this data, which may include personal or financial information of customers is compromised. There have been instances in past where hackers invaded the data sources of large firms and exploited it, which thereby brought in a lot of embarrassment to the company.
Favoritism /Discrimination – Big data analytics can be used for discriminating or favoring a particular person which is ethically wrong. It impedes the true objective of big data.
Defeat The Purpose Of Data Masking – Data Masking refers to creating a proxy version of an individual’s data. It is to protect the actual data by decoding or hiding it with random characters. However, if this is not done properly, the actual purpose of data masking is defeated altogether as privacy can easily be encroached.
Unauthorized Use Of Information – Big data analytics is a common phenomenon today, which on one hand has helped quite a few industries, and on the other has increased the potential for large- scale thefts and unauthorized use of sensitive data. It is important to safeguard vital information by taking proper security measures.
Loss Of Control Over Private Information – Once there is a data breach, your private information does not remain private anymore. If the information is floated over, there are chances that there would be absolutely no way to retain its spread over the web.
Unwanted Data Inferences – Data collected from various sources is contemplated to make data inferences. The documented information from different sets of data is co-related to discover hidden patterns which may reveal certain behavioral inferences of individuals involved in the data study.
Today, we cannot boycott technology, even if we do it does not guarantee us that our private information shall stay secure and protected. The only way is be aware of the potential risks we are exposed to, so that necessary preventive steps can be taken well in time.