Big Data Debate on Privacy
On Wednesday we had the great pleasure of sponsoring the Big Data Debate meetup for their very first debate on the topic of privacy in a big data world. The debate was moderated by Guardian Data Editor James Ball and featured a panel of experts including Javier Ruiz, Campaigner for The Open Rights Group; Rachel Robinson, Policy Officer at Liberty; Francis Aldhouse, Consultant at Bird & Bird; Stephen Bonner, from the IT security team at KPMG; Graham Cooke, Founder & CEO of QuBit and Luc Delany, Founder & CEO of Delany & Co.
The major takeaway from the debate for me is the idea that privacy in a big data world is going to require a transparency and literacy. Citizens need to be aware of when they are giving their data away and what it is for. We need to be conscious of the fact that it is a tradeoff, sure companies are using your personal data, but you can also get the benefit of their subsequent targeted marketing. At the same time, as people become more aware of giving away their personal data, companies will need to become more transparent about how they are using that data to make sure that the tradeoff of data for a service remains beneficial to both parties.
Graham Cooke summed it up best for me when he said “Businesses need education on how to collect data responsibly, how to inform customers correctly and how to action it appropriately. The role of the legal team will be to enable, rather than disable, because operating without data driven insights will be like trying to a find hidden treasure without a map. This challenge will become further amplified as multi-platform customer journey’s become more connected through the digitisation of connections.”
The night also included pitches from recent area startups including Thinking Bob, databarta, DataShaka and Autographic Insight.
The Big Data Debate holds debates every month in the Silicon Roundabout area. To find out more about them and sign up for the next meetup you can follow them on their meetup page or like them on facebook or twitter (@bigdatadebate).
by Jen Methvin, Marketing Associate