Big Data for Good: Unlocking Privately-Held Data to the Benefit of the Many
Alberto Alemanno · European Journal of Risk Regulation · 2018
When something bad happens these daysbe it a terrorist attack, the break of a pandemic or a natural disasterthe relevant, yet new, question is: who has the data?Today, having data means being able to save lives.Thanks to our enhanced societal ability to collect, process and use data, we are able to know exactly wherein the aftermath of an episodethe most vulnerable people are, where the epicentre of the disaster is or how a pandemic, such as Zika, is spreading.Most of this information can typically be inferred from where people check their phones following a disaster or which words they use while communicating about it on social media. 1 Unfortunately, it is not public authorities who hold this real-time data, but private entities, such as mobile network operators, andwith even greater detailtech firms such as Google, through its globally-dominant search engine, and, in particular, social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.Thanks to their many featuresincluding geo-localisation and eye-trackingand our acritical generosity in giving away so much personal information, these companies know more about us than our partners and closest friends. 2 The growing quantity of data harvested by companies through search engines, social networking sites, photo-sharing sites, messengers, and apps more generally are the result of the interaction of commercial interests, interface designs, algorithmic processes and users' indication of preferences, actions or attitudes.3 * Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, HEC Paris.The author would like to thank the members of the high-level expert group on data for good, that has been established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Mastercard, for the insightful conversations undertaken since Autumn 2017.Special thanks to Alessandro Spina, Cliff Wirajendi and anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous versions.The usual disclaimer applies.1 Today personal data is widely collected by a panoply of largely invisible parties and generally used without the knowledge or consent of exploited "data subjects".From the tracking cookies which track our movements on the Web to the flows of data generated by FitBits and other devices, personal data about both our on-and offline activities is harvested, bundled, and monetised daily.2 You might have heard the story of how a supermarket, Target, worked out that a teenage girl was pregnant before her fatherand most probably she herselfdid.Target's consumer tracking system identified 25 products that when purchased together indicate a woman is likely to be expecting a baby.The value of this information was that Target could send coupons to the pregnant woman at an expensive and habit-forming period of her life.That is targeted marketing.To know more see C Duhigg, "How Companies Learn Your Secrets" New York Times, 16 February 2012 and