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The Morning Briefing: Big Data, consumer privacy

By | November 18, 2012, 11:44 PM PST

“The Morning Briefing” is SmartPlanet’s daily roundup of must-reads from the web. This morning we’re reading about Big Data and consumer privacy.

1.) Big Data: Before you start restricting it, be aware of all the opportunities. Companies around the world increasingly collect and process vast amounts of customer data, particularly data tracking consumer behavior on the Web.

2.) Big Data: Big brother business on steroids? Welcome to the world of Big Data, that tsunami of information flowing through the Internet from billions upon billions of handheld devices and machines like coffee makers or on-board automobile navigation systems.

3.) Big data will be big business in India. A little more than a decade ago, as the world panicked over what would happen when 1999 turned into the year 2000, India threw down the gauntlet, proving it could write software and manage big tech projects with the best of them. Now India is ready to prove that it’s got the chops to tackle “big data.”

4.) You + Big Data = Not anonymous; Microsoft develops differential privacy for everyone. Microsoft research is developing Differential Privacy technology that would act like a privacy guard and go-between when researchers query databases.

5.) Obama’s approach to Big Data: Do as I say, not as I do. One of the keys to success for President Barack Obama’s reelection bid was its masterful use of data. But lost in the hype is this: The administration supports a browser-based do not track system that, if pervasive, would throw a wrench into the data-collection tactics that empowered the campaign.

Image credit: Flickr

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Charlie Osborne

About Charlie Osborne

Charlie Osborne is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

Charlie Osborne

Charlie Osborne

Contributing Editor

Charlie Osborne is a freelance journalist and graphic designer based in London. In addition to SmartPlanet, she also writes the iGeneration column for business technology website ZDNet. She holds degrees in medical anthropology from the University of Kent.

Follow her on Twitter.

Charlie Osborne

Charlie Osborne

Charlie Osborne does not have financial holdings that would influence how or what she covers.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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Browser based, baby!
Control must always remain in the user's hands, therefore browser based 'do not track' is the better way. There should always be a system of token or cookie that the browser can "fake 'n' break" to prevent tracking.
Posted by opcom
21st Nov
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