Ethics and Big Data: Key Challenges with Collecting Data

Big data is the voluminous amount of structured and unstructured data gathered from different sources like e-commerce websites, social media platforms, and more. Firms use this data to uncover and analyze trends and patterns in consumer behavior.

What about the limit of the amount of data these organizations are able to access?

Also Read: How AI Is Transforming Big Data Analytics

Explore some challenges with the ethics of collecting and using big data.

As the data collected is often personal, many raise concerns over its collection. One category of challenges is related to ethics, primarily concerning privacy, consent, bias, and accountability.

Concerns Related to Privacy

Perhaps the most pressing concern with big data is the potential violation of personal privacy.

Every citizen is (ideally) born with rights, many that are catered to protect their privacy against digital threats. Yet, data is often collected without users fully understanding what is gathered, how it will be used, and who will have access to it.

For example, social media channels are ‘free to use’, but they collect vast amounts of information, like a user’s location and preferences.

Informed Consent or Is it Really?

Ever been too bored to read the T&Cs and just checked the box? You, along with many other users, have just unknowingly agreed to data collection.

Platforms often work on the premise of users not reading the complex and lengthy service agreements to collect data. This method lacks transparency and undermines the principle of consent, as users are often unaware of the full implications of data collection.

Ethical data collection should ensure that individuals are clearly informed and actively consent to how their data will be used.

Data Bias and Fairness

Big data analytics can perpetuate and even amplify societal biases. Algorithms trained on biased datasets may lead to unfair outcomes, such as discriminatory hiring practices, unequal access to services, and more.

For instance, if past data consists of racial or gendered data, the resulting analytics may reinforce those inequities.

How Firms Can Balance Innovation and Ethics

Big data has immense potential for the benefit of society, such as advancing healthcare, improving safety, and refining customer experiences. Balancing it against ethical considerations is a must.

Firms must adopt a ‘privacy by design’ framework to integrate ethics and big data.

Conclusion: Ethical Data Collection for All

Big data offers amazing opportunities for innovation but comes with its own set of challenges related to the ethics of it. Addressing these issues from the firm’s end requires understanding why and how they are prevalent.

This forwards the motion of realizing the benefits of big data without individual rights being compromised.

Author - Abhishek Pattanaik

Abhishek, as a writer, provides a fresh perspective on an array of topics. He brings his expertise in Economics coupled with a heavy research base to the writing world. He enjoys writing on topics related to sports and finance but ventures into other domains regularly. Frequently spotted at various restaurants, he is an avid consumer of new cuisines.