What exactly is the concept of Big Data? Who is accessing and analyzing this data? Where is this Big Data being stored? Will I ever truly be alone online? Big Data fully impacts our world in ways that are unexplainable and unimaginable, affecting how online users act and interact with others on every platform. There are many misconceptions related to this topic, but simply Big Data applies to an extensive amount of data that is stored without using traditional computing (1). In general terms, Big Data is the collection of large quantities of digital data that is developed and transformed into a method to analyze, to manage, and to visualize large datasets in order to produce a better understanding of our online world. This concept requires highly advanced computing technologies in order to collect and to analyze large datasets and in turn, predict new trends online and develop business strategies to produce specific goals. Due to the plethora of data collected online by technology companies, both structured and unstructured, businesses utilize Big Data in order to stay competitive and learn new information about consumers and their products (1). Big Data collection is directly correlated to online activity; everything an individual does online generates a personal database filled with greater levels of information and knowledge (2). This production of a “rich data generating environment” concurrently has gains, but, at the same time, can have plenty of unintended consequences and potential breaches of privacy and security (2). In the Netflix production entitled “The Great Hack,” this documentary explores how a data company, Cambridge Analytica, used Big Data during the 2016 US presidential election to collect data points on American voters (3). In other words, this technology company showcased the apparent dark side of using the Internet and Social Media platforms, displaying how our online experiences are all predetermined in a dystopian web of our own data (4). This documentary uses the Cambridge Analytica scandal as a framework to show the negatives associated with Big Data and how this technology potentially undermines our individual liberty online (4). Due to the competitive nature of the business world, businesses are all using Big Data strategies, like Cambridge Analytica, to increase efficiency and make better business decisions to analyze patterns of consumer behaviors and tailor advertisements to individuals. In regards to the controversial debate of privacy and security implications of Big Data, the government continues to use this technology to detect and to determine illegal activities done online. From the consumer perspective though, Big Data is mostly considered a con, which I agree with, due to the current prevalent cybersecurity risk. Big Data has the ability to completely take over and run our lives as this technology is heavily involved in every single action we participate in online. As demonstrated by “The Great Hack additionally, the Internet is now considered a tracking system, sacrificing our rights to privacy and security for the advancements of businesses and corporations (3). Big Data has the ability to run the world. This concept is still a very ambiguous idea that is hard to grasp and understand, as is our privacy implications online. Although I now know more about this concept of Big Data, that does not mean that I am going to stop using the Internet or Social Media platforms. This discussion has just made me more aware of the impact of leaving data trails online and the importance of exercising privacy rights as our world becomes increasingly digitized.
- “Big Data: What It Is and Why It Matters.” SAS, http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/big-data/what-is-big-data.html.
- “Internet of Things.” Internet of Things, by Samuel Greengard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015, pp. 1–18.
- Amer, Karim and Jehane Noujaim, directors. The Great Hack. Netflix Official Site, Netflix, 24 July 2019, http://www.netflix.com/watch/80117542?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C800d940dc93508397d9f836a8c339396461909b1%3Af1737c5203297977b81f4d422899bd4f766b27e9%2C%2C.
- Dreyfuss, Emily. “Netflix’s The Great Hack Brings Our Data Nightmare to Life.” Wired, Conde Nast, 26 July 2019, http://www.wired.com/story/the-great-hack-documentary/.
