Much of the discussion around big data in Europe has centered on protecting data rather than using it. Revelations connected to the U.S. National Security Administration spying scandal has had a huge impact on Europe, driving a heavy focus on data security at the expense of building the data economy.
But there is a way to balance privacy and the opportunities of big data, according to Richard Benjamins, Télefonica’s group director for business intelligence and big data. First, the European Union should put a greater emphasis on TACT data values: transparency, added value, control and trust.
In a post following a recent big data conference in Brussels, Benjamins wrote that “it is vital that the reform of the European data protection rules is completed soon, with the right mix of detailed rules and risk-based controls that consider not only how data is collected but also how it is used.”
Benjamins also stressed that “the rules should aim to protect people first, rather than data.”
This may seem like an odd position for the representative of a major telco like Télefonica seeing how telcos have a huge amount of data they could use or sell, but as Benjamins rightly points out, without people’s confidence in big data, the opportunities it presents can’t be actualized.
When many people think of big data, they usually think of companies using information to target advertisements at them, which some might find helpful while others find suspicious or annoying — witness the initial enthusiasm for Facebook competitor Ello when it claimed it would have no ads and gather no customer data.
Big data is about much more than targeted ads. Although many people may not realize it, they already benefit from big data when they plan a trip and look to see whether there is heavy traffic on a certain route. In the future, this kind of tracking could provide more advantages and efficiencies in transportation, energy use and the delivery of public services. Companies can also use big data to make their operations more efficient, thereby improving quality and lowering costs for their customers.
There are also many opportunities in health, although the use of health information raises even more privacy concerns. Yet this is exactly the kind of hurdle that must be overcome to grow the data economy.
Benjamins argues that the EU can tackle this hurdle by increasing transparency and boosting “digital literacy” so that people can see and understand how data is being used to their own benefit.
“People should be in the loop and be aware of what is going on. And then they can freely decide,” Benjamins said in an interview with European Voice. “Then you take away the privacy issue because you have the consent of the people. You need trust.”
Benjamins cautioned that building that kind of confidence will not happen quickly, and estimates it will take three to five years. That may be slow on an innovation scale, but to build any kind of big data economy, it’s clear that, trust must come first ― especially in a very skeptical Europe.
