Is Big Data the Big Brother? While there are many benefits to the growth of big data analytics, traditional methods of privacy protection often fail. Many notions of privacy rely on informed consent for the disclosure and use of an individual's private data. However, big data means that data is a resource that can be used and reused, often in ways that were inconceivable at the time the data was collected.  According to writer Jeffrey Van Camp, "None of these cloud storage companies guarantee the protection of any files you upload, and there are no promises that these services won't freely share your files and information with the government or other companies."

Hence the question arises, is big data is the new big brother? Will it have control over individual’s online data? Will it always invade our privacy?

Keeping all these questions in mind, the task of introducing privacy policies is all the more urgent. The rate at which personal data is being collected is accelerating. The buzz around big data is attracting millions of dollars from investors and brands hoping to turn a profit. At the same time, intelligence agencies are also collecting information about our online activities. Alongside these, there are also the black market operators that make millions of dollars a year out of things like identity theft and matching disparate data sets across the web to help identify people who might be suitable targets for a scam.

Regulatory agencies that make privacy policies must address these questions while making policies:

• What potential harms arise from big data collection and how are these risks currently addressed?
• What are the legal frameworks currently governing big data, and are they adequate?
• What technical measures could promote the benefits of big data while minimizing the privacy risks?

Online privacy can also be protected at different levels:

Government level

The government must consider whether access to information or physical space must have a single access point, which is much easier to secure than hundreds of them. Currently, big data is stored in widely spread places. Its vulnerability is far higher because of its size, distribution and broad range of access.

Company level

Companies can consolidate countermeasures such as encryption, access control, intrusion detection and backups. Auditing and privacy procedures can prevent data from being breached and falling into the wrong hands.

Individual level

At the individual level, you can avoid sharing information on sites that use HTTP default rather than the secure HTTPS prefix. A lot of encryption capabilities on existing mobile and tablet technology is switched off by default too. You could change that.

Transparency is the key to harness the power of big data while addressing its security and privacy challenges. Handlers of big data should disclose information on what they gather and for what purposes. They must tell consumers how the data is stored, who has access to it and how that access is granted. Finally, big data companies can earn public trust by giving specific explanations about the security controls they use to protect the data they manage.

Do you want to read more about big data and how you can solve privacy concerns? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Allerin to talk specifics or explore this idea further