Introduction
The term “big data” was coined recently. Up to that point, there was no data, but now there is so much that a majority of individuals are concerned it will run out of storage space. However, many people worry that if there is insufficient space for the data, it will be very easy to hack into it, resulting in data leakage that harms not only those who collected the statistics but also those about whom the data was collected. Thus, the principles of data protection and privacy are critical for big data. The primary issue with data privacy is that it is collected without consent, and the data itself can be hacked, made public, or fall into the hands of criminals.
Handling Big Data in Business
The advantage of big data for business is that with the right data, companies can predict, analyze, and use it to boost profits. Not all available data is gathered for this purpose, but because big data is costly to store, only large corporations can afford it. Most often, data is collected from users to determine their interests.
For example, to provide an interesting advertisement to a customer, it is necessary first to determine whether they have previously expressed interest in this product. As a result, data becomes an invaluable source of information and a highly useful tool for business. However, not all businesses collect data with their customers’ consent, and some knowledge ends up in companies before most users would like.
The security of information is primarily a mutual agreement between the customer and the company that the data will not be used for any other purpose and that the company will safeguard the data to prevent leakage. However, when dealing with large amounts of data, there is a risk that the database will fail or be unable to handle the volume, resulting in the loss of all data.
Furthermore, not all companies are willing to collect data openly and may do so without the user’s knowledge. For example, when a customer purchases a pregnancy test, the data is collected and entered into a database before the customer is aware that she is pregnant (Asaad & Abdulnabi, 2022). Such information about the client’s personal life and health must be kept private and not used for profit by businesses.
To ensure true data privacy, customers can choose to share their information with the company only with their specific consent. Most people will continue to consent to the use of their data, and the information gathered will be sufficient. This is enough for businesses, and they do not need to attempt to gather data from every person on the planet to increase profits, thereby risking the database’s vulnerability. It’s also worth limiting the amount of data that the company can gather.
Big data databases can be both inconvenient and highly dangerous. Since not all businesses use strong security measures and can overload databases, there is a risk that data will be hacked and, for example, fall into the hands of terrorists. The names and titles of important sites are enough to carry out a terrorist attack, so companies that collect such data with their customers’ consent must also ensure its security.
Conclusion
Data privacy is primarily protected by those who collect the data, as well as by obtaining customer consent for how the data will be collected and used. Moreover, if storage capacity is underutilized, the highest level of security is required to prevent data leakage and misuse. Companies must pay more attention to the data they have rather than attempting to collect as much as possible or relying on algorithms to do so. Companies should limit the amount of data they can collect and severely penalize those who leak information.
Reference
Asaad, R. R., & Abdulnabi, N. L. (2022). A review on Big Data analytics between security and privacy issue. Academic Journal of Nawroz University, 11(3), 178-184.