Experts warn of big data “horsemeat moment”

Repeated incidents of highly private information being illegally obtained and publicly leaked are stoking widespread concerns about security in the digital age.

Recent attacks have included the high-profile hacking of Hollywood celebrities’ personal photo files and raids on the databanks of major financial companies.
According to new research, such breaches underline the need for a third party to bridge the gaps between the data supply chains of organisations that use data and the ordinary people that generated it in the first place.

Dr Duncan Shaw, of Nottingham University Business School, said: “It’s well worth remembering what happened in the wake of the horsemeat scandal in early 2013.
“Consumer confidence in the supply chain, including some of the country’s biggest supermarkets, plunged almost overnight and subsequently struggled to recover.
“With every celebrity exposé, every data loss, every little act of information misuse, big data is edging ever closer to its very own horsemeat moment.

“The ultimate consequence of a collapse in consumer faith would be that the realisation of big data’s full potential is slowed or greatly impeded – and that would be to everyone’s detriment.”

Dr Shaw, a Lecturer in Information Systems, outlined the threats to big data’s speedy adoption in a research paper recently referenced by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

He said: “In the end the real use of big data, particularly in times of austerity, is to be found in helping us to use resources more precisely and uncovering the unmet needs of consumers and citizens.

“That’s why we have to guard against a loss of trust in the data ecosystem and quell people’s fears that their data will be used against them rather than for them.
“One reason why meeting that challenge won’t be easy is the continued absence of a meaningful third party – some sort of recognised body that can act as a broker.
“We need an organisation – or a set of organisations – that can manage a person’s data and deal with firms and other providers on an individual’s behalf.

“Consumers are increasingly asking questions such as ‘Who controls my data?’, ‘What will happen if I share it?’ and ‘Who will help me if something goes wrong?’.
“An organisation that can provide effective and enduring answers to these questions would serve not only as an upholder of the public interest but as an educator.”
Dr Shaw suggested that one key aim of such a body would be to help organisations share and use data in new ways in return for doing so appropriately.

He added: “We have to identify reliable methods of encouraging providers to be true to the ideal of ensuring data is used for consumers rather than against them.
“Of course, assembling a body capable of sitting at the complex intersection between consumers, firms, regulators and privacy organisations isn’t going to be easy.
“But there are ways to engage the attention and resources of the different stakeholders to watch and help each other.

“The alternative – a major loss of trust – would be a disaster when we consider the huge potential big data has in terms of enhancing people’s everyday lives.”