Big Data and the Reality of a New Digital Age

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Big Data and the Reality of a New Digital Age

Advances in new technology have come to define the modern world; super-efficient cars, computers capable of blistering speeds, and smartphones with access to any information in an instant are now a part of normal life in the 21st century. With all this new technology, new problems arise that we have no experience solving. Big Data usage has become a very controversial topic within America and around the world. Big Data is defined as, “The collection and analysis of enormous amounts of data by super computers, often in real time” (Price). The use of big data by the Government and corporations has many positive uses, but it is at the cost of our private information; at what point do the pro’s outweigh the con’s, and how does privacy play a role in this modern age of big data? The Government as well as large corporations can have access to text messages, phone calls, browsing histories, and even facial recognition for those with social media accounts. This data can be provided for multiple governmental and commercial uses. We first must look into what big data is specifically to better understand, than address the privacy issues involved and how they affect us. The government needs to regulate big data and be transparent with their policies in order to create a solution for the issues at stake.

- What is Big Data?

Big Data is being widely utilized by large corporations and the government for many practical uses, tracking crime, finding terrorists, redefining shopping, and changing how we go about everyday life. Price says that big data is leading to large advances in medicine, social sciences, astrophysics, business, and crime fighting. According to IBM, 90% of the worlds Big Data...

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Gand-Hoon, kim. Trimi, Silvana. Ji-Hyong, Chung. “Big-Data Applications in the Government Sector.” Web. Mar 2014. 78-85. Academic Search Premier. Ipswich, MA. 13 Apr 2014.

Price, Tom. "Big Data and Privacy." CQ Researcher 25 Oct. 2013: 909-32. Web.

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Talbot, David. "Big Data From Cheap Phones." Technology Review 116.3 (2013): 50-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Apr 2014.

Waxer, Cindy. "BIG DATA Blues. (Cover Story)." Computerworld 47.19

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