Considering the Ethical Implications of Big Data

    Madelaine Fisher

    MF909217@ohio.edu

Image courtesy of Pixabay

In 2017, data surpassed oil in economic value – and the tech giants who have the rights to that data are few and far between. Instead, companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta are raking in billions of dollars at rapid rates compared to big oil, and they are grossly unregulated. 

We have already seen the effects when data gets into the wrong hands. For example, the Netflix documentary "The Great Hack" explains how in the 2016 presidential election, Cambridge Analytica wrongfully used Facebook data. The UK-based company micro-targeted persuadable voters in U.S. swing states with "weapons-grade communications tactics," directly resulting in Donald Trump winning the race. Cambridge Analytica used the same tactics on a global scale, influencing the outcome of Brexit and elections in Trinidad and Tobago, among others. 

The Cambridge Analytica scandal is just one horror story about data misuse. There are thousands of data points available about every internet user. If big data goes on to be unregulated, our data could continue to be used to manipulate us past the point of any ethical line. Tech corporations know everything about us, from our routines to our interests, locations, mental health, and more than we could imagine. Since tech companies can legally sell their data to third parties, there is no telling who could have access to our personal information.

While mass amounts of attention are called to when our data is used in elections, that same data is used every day for online advertisements. In 2016, according to The Economist, "Google and Facebook accounted for almost all the revenue growth in digital advertising." The structure of the ad space is rapidly changing, and big data is responsible. As ads become more targeted and these tech giants continue to grow, we must question the ethical lines between hyper-specific targeting, behavior prediction, and manipulation. 

One solution proposed to end data misuse, also from "The Great Hack," is the individual ownership of one's data. If individuals owned their data, they could then decide whether to sell it or keep it private. That concept has been referred to as "data rights," Many believe that data rights are the new human rights. Though there is no legal right to privacy in the U.S., with the invasive and secretive nature of what data collection has grown into, data privacy is a conversation that should be considered.