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Through the lens of history, every technological innovation has been a two-edged sword. Fire cooks -- and burns. Oil powers our economy, and fills the air with carbon. Nuclear power can deliver unlimited clean energy, or can be fashioned into terrifying weapons. These new technologies don't exactly come with convenient instruction guides -- we have to collectively learn how to extract the benefits without creating more harm than good. Many of us are now looking at big data in the recent light of what these tools might mean in the hands of large, powerful governments: boon or bane? Or is this yet another example where we as a society haven't figured out what we're comfortable with, and what we're not? It Isn't Just Entertainment Anymore The all-knowing, all-powerful government computer system has long been a staple of action films. Fragments of evidence immediately become rich, nuanced dossiers that conveniently accelerate the plot. Mostly, this capability is presented as being used for the greater good; but there are a few storylines that assume otherwise. Personally, I've always believed that assembling gigantic, cross-referenced real-time databases with every phone call, every email, every sensor trace, etc. -- well, it makes a nice story,... |
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