It is believed that more access to data makes systems smarter and more intelligent. However, this may not always be true. When businesses start to feel that more data is a crucial element to win an edge over the competition, they push even further to garner more data, and this could birth some explosive disasters.
Data privacy has remained a constant top priority in the current dynamic business climate. Today, data acts as a key resource that is responsible for the financial success of a company. However, it’s time businesses tweak their approach in case of customer data. There needs to be a shift from the present “more is better” approach, and instead, the focus should be on initiatives that focus on collecting only the critically needed data.
It is believed that more access to data makes systems smarter and more intelligent. However, this may not always be true. When businesses start to feel that more data is a crucial element to win an edge over the competition, they push even further to garner more data, and this could birth some explosive disasters.
As data is one of the prime resources, businesses strive to collect maximum information about customers. At the same time, customers are also aware of how their online behavior is monitored, processed, analyzed by the businesses. But data security is a huge concern and becoming even bigger. One of the main reasons why data breaches and identity thefts have become rampant today, and are on an even more upward curve, is that companies fail to protect the gargantuan amounts of consumer data that they collect.
The biggest issue that creates problems associated with the excessive push for more data is privacy. Operation costs and storage costs are associated with massive-scale data acquisition and management. With digital transformation on the anvil for almost all enterprises, there will be even more data generated by the usage of Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning. Volumes of data will multiply even further and will soon be equated with systems intelligence. This, in turn, will continue to increase the data management costs.
However, if businesses take a smarter approach for data collection and data processes, they will soon realize that they don’t need to collect a huge amount of data. It’s time companies start processing and analyzing aggregated data instead of relying on individual data. Companies can learn to change patterns and trends across accounts by taking a holistic approach regarding data collection. Soon, there will be a relatively lesser demand for individual data and greater overall intelligence. For example, businesses can look at IP ranges to differentiate between normal and abnormal mobility patterns. This can help them determine whether an individual is traveling, without having to know the minute details such as accommodation and flight bookings.
These techniques are important and allow companies to walk on the path of evolving big data ethics. On a global level, one can witness a shift towards higher privacy and transparency. At the same time, there has been growing restrictions on data collection. Thanks to advanced AI and ML capabilities, one can achieve intelligence and also preserve user privacy.
