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Elijah Paulman
L. Cook
ENG 1201
March 3, 2021
Why should companies be allowed or denied the ability to collect big data on their users?

With an increasingly electronic world, there is more data in circulation than ever before. Most

people upload data online which is collected and used for marketing, studies, and ad targeting.

Many companies collect and sell data. This presents the question of why companies should be

allowed or denied the ability to collect big data on their users?

Before the internet, it was hard to collect data from average citizens. People had to participate in

studies and have their information and data knowingly collected. With the creation of the

internet, it became easy for companies to collect, use, and sell data on their users are

undenounced to them. This raises many concerns, most importantly, privacy. It also includes

some benefits such as use for research questions, important studies, and better ads online. Marc

Zuckerberg discusses the collection of data saying, “People are slowly realizing what is

happening out there in the market and discovering that, when they click on the button to agree to

some service, some app or some website, there seems to be all this stuff happening to that data,

and people are starting to see the results of it.” (Big data, big worry: privacy fears on the rise).

One of the most prominent concerns over the collection of big data seems to be that of privacy.

There are many people who feel that data collection invades their sense of privacy, especially

when data is collected unknowingly of without permission. One study found that, “roughly six-

in-ten U.S. adults say they do not think it is possible to go through daily life without having data

collected about them by companies or the government.” (Auxier, Rainie, Anderson, Perrin,
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Kumar, and Turner). This proves that people feel and can sense the lack of privacy online. With

phones becoming a necessity, there are more opportunities for governments and companies to

collect information. Most people have not only phones but also computers, tablets, and even TVs

and fridges that can have data collected. This study appeals to all people and relates to them that

everyone is vulnerable. It also shows how our own opinions on data collection relate to others

like us.

While a lack of privacy may sound concerning, there are benefits to collecting data. One of those

benefits is counterterrorism efforts. Using new technology, data can be analyzed and even used

to stop terrorism. To do this, messages, posts, emails, calls, texts, and other online activities are

automatically analyzed and anything out of the ordinary is flagged. The process is described by

saying, “Anomaly detection programs, for instance, scan online activity looking for suspicious

posts or events that do not fit into ordinary behavior patterns.” (Big Data and US National

Security). Through data collection, we can detect future terrorist activity or even things as simple

as credit card theft or use. This article brings to light the fact that analyzing data can prove useful

and even save lives.

Another common debate on the collection of big data is ethics. It is important to collect big data

ethically. No one wants their private information being secretly collected. When data is collected

there needs to be an awareness by the source the data is being collected from. Two documents

named the Belmont Report and the Declaration of Helsinki discuss and guide research ethics.

These documents highlight important matters in collecting data such as, “...the acknowledgment

of participants' autonomous participation and the need to obtain informed consent, minimization

of harm, risk benefit assessment, fairness in distribution and dissemination of research outcomes,
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and fair participant selection” (Favaretto). If data is going to be collected, there should be certain

rules and ethics followed.

The main threat of big data pertains simply to security. As time goes on, the threat increases due

to an increasing volume of data available. One article describes this, “The multiple data collected

is so voluminous and variable that it must be stored in Big Data architectures. This evolution has

provided the opportunity to have better access, quality and analysis of information, but at the

same time, there is a challenge to prevent and mitigate the security risks associated with the

relationship between IoT and Big Data, endangering the information collected and the user'

sensitive data, among others.” (Alvarez, Yigliana, Angel Leguizamón-Páez, Miguel, and

Londoño, Tania J). Many people feel they are safe online, however, it is very difficult to not

have your data collected. The same article brings to light issues with the Internet of Things

(anything online) and says that, “Many of the applications that are linked to IoT, ask the user for

sensitive information that allows individual identification such as email address, date of birth,

gender, address, and in some cases, it also requests information regarding credit cards when they

are paid applications. All the aforementioned information can be manipulated by third parties

due to its storage in the cloud. (Alvarez, Yigliana, Angel Leguizamón-Páez, Miguel, and

Londoño, Tania J).

While there are many pros and cons to the collection of big data and whether companies should

be able to do so, there are also reasons why companies should collect data. To start, data allows

companies to target ads, offer lowering pricing, and promote their own companies. For example,

Amazon can offer specific ads for you to help you discover new products that can make your life

easier and better! Some companies are even able to offer lower prices with these ads. Allowing

companies to collect data on you could be beneficial to yourself as well as others but it comes
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with a risk. Your data could be used or sold in ways you might not have foreseen. The user must

think about the benefits and detriments of allowing their data to be collected.
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Auxier, B., Rainie, L., Anderson, M., Perrin, A., Kumar, M., & Turner, E. (2019, November 15).

Americans and privacy: Concerned, confused and Feeling lack of control over their

personal information. Retrieved March 07, 2021, from

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-

confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/

"Big Data and US National Security." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2017.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/DHVKAI969695055/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=36014231. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

"Big data, big worry: privacy fears on the rise." Sun-Herald [Sydney, Australia], 6 Dec. 2020, p.

16. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643829273/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=50d0b992. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Favaretto, Maddalena, et al. "First do no harm: An exploration of researchers' ethics of conduct

in Big Data behavioral studies." PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 11, 2020, p. e0241865. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A640707179/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=09230267. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

Alvarez, Yigliana, Angel Leguizamón-Páez, Miguel, and Londoño, Tania J.” Risks and security

solutions existing in the Internet of things (IoT) in relation to Big Data.” Ingeniería y

Competitividad. ene2021, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p1-13. 13p. EBSCOhost.