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11 Nw. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop. 239 (2012-2013)
Issue 5

handle is hein.journals/nwteintp11 and id is 267 raw text is: Copyright 2013 by Northwestern University School of Law           Volume 11, Number 5 (April 2013)
Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
Big Data for All: Privacy and User Control in the
Age of Analytics
By Omer Tenel and Jules Polonetsky
We live in an age of big data.  Data have become the raw material of production, a
new source for immense economic and social value. Advances in data mining and
analytics and the massive increase in computing power and data storage capacity have
expanded by orders of magnitude the scope of information available for businesses and
government. Data are now available for analysis in raw form, escaping the confines of
structured databases and enhancing researchers' abilities to identiy correlations and
conceive of new, unanticipated uses for existing information. In addition, the increasing
number of people, devices, and sensors that are now connected by digital networks has
revolutionized the ability to generate, communicate, share, and access data. Data
creates enormous value for the world economy, driving innovation, productivity,
efficiency, and growth. At the same time, the data deluge  presents privacy concerns
which could stir a regulatory backlash dampening the data economy and stifling
innovation. In order to craft a balance between beneficial uses of data and individual
privacy, policymakers must address some of the most fundamental concepts of privacy
law, including the definition of personally identifiable information,  the role of
individual control, and the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation. This
article emphasizes the importance of providing individuals with access to their data in
usable format. This will let individuals share the wealth created by their information and
incentivize developers to offer user-side features and applications harnessing the value of
big data. Where individual access to data is impracticable, data are likely to be de-
identified to an extent sufficient to diminish privacy concerns. In addition, since in a big
data world it is often not the data but rather the inferences drawn from them that give
cause for concern, organizations should be required to disclose their decisional criteria.
INTRODUCTION                 .............................................. ..... 240
I. BIG DATA: BIG BENEFITS             ........................................ 243
A. Healthcare             ................................................ .... 245
B. Mobile             ............................................................ 247
C. Smart Grid......................           ........................ ..... 248
D. Traffic Management.......................................           ...... 248
E. Retail ................................................         .......... 249
Associate Professor, College of Management Haim Striks School of Law, Israel; Senior Fellow, Future
of Privacy Forum; Visiting Researcher, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology; Affiliate Scholar,
Stanford Center for Internet and Society. I would like to thank the College of Management Haim Striks
School of Law research fund and the College of Management Academic Studies research grant for
supporting research for this article.
Co-chair and Director, Future of Privacy Forum.

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