
We have to avoid building ‘data dictatorships’ where big data is used to predict a child’s performance at school or an adult’s susceptibility to illness or premature death, to default on credit or commit crime, says EDPS. A data dictator ship can also have a chilling effect on creativity and innovation. With big data analytics, there is a tendency to discourage or penalise spontaneity, experimentation or deviation from the statistical ‘norm’, and to reward conformist behaviour.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) believes that responsible and sustainable development of big data must rely on four essential elements:
• organisations must be much more transparent about how they process personal data;
• afford users a higher degree of control over how their data is used;
• design user friendly data protection into their products and services; and
• become more accountable for what they do.