EAE News
Why do we have to protect data?: The Great Hack and the Power of Big Data
03 de February de 2020
Every time you click on a website, a record is taken. Every comment is a declaration and every like is an attestation. As a result of free browsability, the modern Internet has become a massive gatherer of personal data which not only is processed to build psychological profiles of internet users, but it is also traded as a commodity in the growing Big Data market. Doesn’t that sound a bit dangerous? Does it not pose a risk that any company can buy information on over half the world’s population for its own commercial purposes? The answer to these questions seems to be yes on both counts. To gain a better understanding of the issue and to mark Data Protection Day, held recently on 28th January, we are going to discuss “The Great Hack” (2019), a documentary produced by Netflix.
Directed by Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, over the course of two fascinating hours, “The Great Hack” tells the story behind the scandal of the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, and the data bought from Facebook to psychologically influence millions of people, thereby interfering in several electoral processes, including the Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton election (2018), Brexit (2016) and the Trinidad and Tobago elections between the UNC and PNM (2009).
According to the documentary, made up of the voices of journalists, researchers and employees of the companies involved, the data obtained from Facebook was used during these elections to detect swing voters who were still undecided which way to vote. As such, all voters considered to be persuadable or manipulable were identified and then bombarded by hardcore media campaigns on Facebook discrediting the rivals of Cambridge Analytica’s clients. What was the result? All the clients of the political consultancy won the elections.
After this scandal was revealed, bringing into question some of the most important elections of recent years, Big Data has become the centre of a great deal of debate, not particularly focusing on its status as the basis of a growing multimillion-dollar industry, but rather on how the unexpected power of a sector of the new digital age should be monitored and controlled by authorities and internet users themselves.
In response to such scandals, various governments and multilateral organizations have proposed that laws be created and strengthened to promote data protection and defend people’s digital rights. This gave rise to Data Protection Day and, in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into effect to replace the Personal Data Protection Act. The GDPR was created with the aim of reinforcing personal data protection with stricter regulations, as well as fines of over 20 million euros imposed on companies that gather, use or disclose data with the subjects’ consent.
Rather than a day of celebration, Data Protection Day aims to raise awareness of the power and use of Big Data. As many experts state, the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal is just the tip of an enormous iceberg hidden behind the macro-data industry. Therefore, it seems that there is still a great deal of work to be done.
If you are interested in this topic, we suggest that you look into the Master in Big Data & Analytics run by EAE, which gives you the opportunity to gain a more in-depth knowledge of data analysis and prepare to specialize in one of the profiles in the highest demand in the technological field, such as Big Data, Data Science or Data Analytics.