BIG DATA AND MODERN SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS
One could define Big Data as “the growth in the volume of structured and unstructured data, the speed at which it is created and collected, and the scope of how many data points are covered.”[1]
According to Jeffrey Welser Vice President and Lab Director at IBM Research, unstructured data volume grows exponentially. Today, in just 2 days, we generate as much data as what was generated annually in 2003.
The applications of such information technology are endless, and, although it is an ever-changing phenomenon, it is considered an engine for most of the today’s disruptive technologies — including AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Cloud computing.
In this article, we will tackle one specific application of the big data technology: Big data for state-of-the-art surveillance. The view I shall argue for here is that unstructured and insignificant data can now be extrapolated to infer significant and useful data for both governments and private organizations.
- Big data to prevent Terrorism and crime
Using data-driven strategies to target individuals is increasingly popular among police departments. With their consequential amount of public data, such a technology can improve their efficiency on the field and eventually reduce the crime rate. When it comes to surveillance, a better definition of Big Data would be the one given by Bowd and Crawford (2012): ‘the capacity to search, aggregate and cross-reference large datasets’’. Today, businesses can use new machine learning techniques to “develop processes to apply structure to the unstructured nature of the data”[2]. Without going into too many details, the most common technique to obtain significant data is to assign both positive and negative values (-1,0,1…) to store it adequately. This, however, only works for simple textual data, there is still room for improvement.
Similar processes have impacted the surveillance systems and can allow real-time aerial video surveillance for the local police department, communication surveillance for governments and even data collecting and tracking by private companies, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.
In the upcoming decades, Big data will allow surveillance systems to focus more on the future and therefore possibly anticipate terrorist actions. Although data-driven surveillance systems may improve the government’s efficiency against crimes, it doesn’t target the causes that are at the roots of such action and, therefore, it will never fully eradicate them.
Besides, philosophers like Deleuze warns us against such technique. According to him, the dawn of the digital age and internet-connected networks induces a shift from discipline to control. In their attempt to protect us, governments take independent decisions regarding our safety to the detriment of their citizens’ liberty and privacy.
- Big data and individual marketing: Data brokers
Data brokers extract and collect data on individuals, ranging from their names, addresses and phone numbers to where you sent your second child to college. Next, data brokers provide these details to marketing agencies and private companies to orient their product design and selling strategy.
And for those who think their medical data are safe, data companies like Axiom “sells data on whether an individual has an online search prosperity for a certain ailment or prescription” [3].
There are no apparent limitations to what those companies can extract from ordinary citizens.Using data-driven surveillance techniques for both saving citizens and commercial purposes underlie basic ethical questions like the right to privacy.
Are citizens able to control the access to their information? Are they just unaware of data extraction processes on social media and other platforms used daily?
The main problem might not be privacy, but the lack of transparency from the institutions using data-oriented surveillance systems.
References:
[1]: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/big-data.asp
[2]: https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/innovation/columns/transforming-unstructured-into-structured-data
[3]: https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-we-know-about-what-data-brokers-know-about-you
8 comments on “BIG DATA AND MODERN SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS”
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Nice Post!
Big data and smart algorithms have been used to prevent terrorist attacks and crimes, to bring better user experience on social media sites, and to make online advertising more effective than ever before. Yet, the technology that has led to these benefit may also be undermining the rights and privacy of citizens. However, I would argue that we are perhaps the ones who put ourselves in this situation. We click on every “I agree” button below the terms and conditions before creating our digital account, hence allowing firms and governments to access our data. In addition to demanding more transparency from relevant parties, perhaps citizens themselves should also become more aware of the implication of their actions.
There is a really good documentary on the topic of cyber security and big data called “Terms and conditions may apply”. I encourage you to watch it if you are interested in the cybersecurity and big data.
Link to the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQBVgNtdqE
Blog comment by Zonglin Li
MS&E 238A
Thank you for commenting.
The issue you raised is quite interesting. Indeed, is it the lack of control we have on our private data or the lack of awareness on our rights to privacy that’s the real issue?
You mentioned the “I agree” button. It is true that, by clicking, we agree on sharing some sensitive data to private organizations and governments…but do we have a viable alternative? Or is living in autarchy the only choice one can make to keep his data “safe”.
Interesting post!
You’re absolutely right about how data is being collected & sold. We definitely need the institutions to be more transparent with us on what is being done with our personal data.
Data to prevent terrorism; Keeping the public safe is P1, but at the cost of intruding privacy ?
As shown in the movie ‘Snowden’ how the government can turn on any microphone & camera under the name of Public Safety, is wrong is what I feel.
Data Brokers; In India, It is not legal to sell unstructured or Raw data of a particular person. For ex; Their name, Phone numbers or e-mail address etc.,
In order to sell data, It has to be in bulk and structured. For ex; % people 18-25, %of male/female,etc.,
With this kind of selling it is ensured that privacy is not breached. (Although enforcement is not strict) – For countries like America, enforcement of the law is much better.
Pratik Jain
238A
In these troubled times, safety is probably P1. However, there is a interesting philosophical debate around the right to privacy. Should we live in a potentially dangerous but free world or in a safer one where all our moves and thoughts are controlled and recorded?
Philosophers like James Rachels also believe that privacy is at the roots of our interactions between human beings. Confidence and secrets build our relationships. If our society were to transfer all our private data into public knowledge, it could affect our interactions and what Joseph Kupfer calls the “development of our autonomous self”.
link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20014176?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Hi Victor,
Thanks for your post! Palantir is the pioneer in this space, especially in working with governmental agencies to use big data analytics to combat the war on terror and also drive data analytics using public data.
Here’s an article on Bloomberg about how Palantir has been instrumental in the United States’ war on terror (1). Although there are not too many public sources available about the specifics of the projects that Palantir has worked on with the government, it is certain that Palantir has formed a very strong public private partnership with the government and has access to a wealth of invaluable data that is instrumental to winning on the battlefield in case of war.
1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-11-22/palantir-the-war-on-terrors-secret-weapon
2. https://www.palantir.com/solutions/defense/
The information sold by Axiom that you referenced was very surprising to me, and a bit disturbing. It seems that the rise in big data has seen an increased interest in personal data and these interests have put privacy on the back burner. I am curious to see if opportunities begin to appear for companies that provide privacy ‘as a service’. An example would be the Brave browser that promises to use crypto techniques to ensure user privacy.
When it comes to big data, crime prevention and Deleuze I have to admit I have my concerns. As mentioned in the presentation from Pinterest the difference between how algorithms perform during production can be very different from isolated tests, and deficiencies in learning algorithms that mine big data can be incredibly difficult to notice. While many techniques are undoubtable useful we should be careful not to become too reliant on them, as these techniques can easily be instilled with ‘biases’ based on the training data or unexpected use case.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/10/5-unexpected-sources-of-bias-in-artificial-intelligence/
A broad example would be that there are multiple examples of AI picking up racial biases, simply because the data used to train it comes from humans. If we want to use AI and big data in areas like law enforcement we must be very careful not to inadvertently create a system that is trained in a flawed manner and then treat it as infallible once implemented.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/13/ai-programs-exhibit-racist-and-sexist-biases-research-reveals
Great write up. I would also think of another use case through deep learning that could disrupt the intelligence of BIG DATA. Deep learning has a direct linkage with data from two sources one being recorded from the physical world (image, sound) and another from the data human produce (words, meta data, tagging data).
This is a very interesting article! One area that is closely linked to this is the opening up of encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp. Bulk data analysis on keywords and trends in messages sent using this platform could be used to help fight crime. However, there are complex legal and ethical arguments surrounding this. I would be interested to hear your opinion on whether the invasion of privacy is worth the sacrifice if it helps to catch more terrorists, traffickers and drug dealers.