In September of 2014, Fox Business published an article titled “Big Data Is Good: A CEO’s Analysis”. Within the article, author Craig Boundy not only asserts that big data is good but also fails to mention any downsides. Choosing to focus only on positive effects, big data looks like the saving grace of the world. Medical cures, reduced crime, increased productivity, who wouldn’t love big data? People need to remember that every choice has both its up and down sides. Big Data may help over there, but not without eroding privacy over here.
Oh but totally only look in the sun, who cares about the shade?
Craig asserts that, “insights derived from data are enabling millions to obtain their first lines of credit.” As the CEO of Experian, an information services company that provides credit scores and reports to banks and credit card companies, I doubt he could make any other 
claim. But is it true? Well, that remains unseen. A report released by ChoicePoint contradicts this claim. ChoicePoint was a data collections company founded by Equifax, Experian’s direct competitor. Their report claims that big data collection has created the concept of “shadow scores,” an unofficial credit score created from a grouping of online activity from both shopping and browsing. These shadow scores are used by lenders in addition to classic credit scores to decide on the availability of loans and credit 
cards. This new information reported is not always beneficial to consumers. Banks can see a much better example of your payment patterns, whether you will repay or not. They can see what you pay back first and can build detailed charts of this behavior. Rather than using only the official credit score that is mandated by government regulation, banks use these shadow credits to find alternate reasons to discriminate against you for a loan. This means you could have a perfect official credit score but still get declined for information on you and your spending habits that you didn’t even know existed. So, Craig, it seems these insights are causing a lot more harm than good if you look at it objectively instead of from your board chair.
The second egregious point Craig makes regards Bid Data being done “right.” He states “When done right — and in compliance with existing laws and regulations on data use — data is a force for good, driving economic growth, empowering citizens and enabling our society to run more efficiently and const-effectively.” There’s several things wrong with these claims. First, there’s no real way for all of this to be “done right” as of now. What’s 
especially laughable is his reference to “compliance with existing laws and regulations…” We’ve discussed in previous posts how one of the biggest issues regarding the big data industry is the complete lack of regulation and oversight. For the most part, data transparency is an undefined grey area, the only real regulation that exists is self-regulation and we all know how well that works. (It doesn’t.)
Craig is definitely correct when he says big data drives economic growth, but he couldn’t be further from the truth when he tries to claim it “empowers citizens.” If there’s anything in this world that big data definitively doesn’t do, its empower the every-day consumer. It turns 
citizens into highly identifiable data points, slotted into the “potential customer” classification for any product that seems to match the list of interests they have. It takes their information, their likes, status updates and tweet streams and records them all without letting them know. It compiles shadow credit scores that are difficult for the average person to a) even know exists and b) access without difficulty, while potentially being the reason they can’t get a loan or a mortgage. It contributes your searches and private browsing history to background check sites that then share that information with potential employers and educational institutions.
Big Data has a lot of potential, but ignoring its numerous downfalls is akin to standing in the eye of a hurricane and claiming the day’s weather was perfect. Businesses have a lot to gain from utilizing Big Data, but if they don’t do so with reasonable transparency and consumer protection protocols in place, well…the rest of us have a lot to lose.
Crystal Clear 