Reflection on privacy in the age of large data

A few years ago, Google's engineers told me why Google did not collect information about people's names: "We don't want names." "There's enough information about search queries, locations, and online behavior in Google's large database," he says.

In fact, through this, people find it unnecessary to send targeted ads by name. This could lead to trouble, just as Google's own adventure Wi-Fi snoop shows. Even if you don't know your name, there is more and more information about you on the Internet. So whether you've ever been careful to protect your privacy in the http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/35925.html > online world, it's increasingly imperative that we build a system that protects privacy.

"Privacy is a source of great tension and anxiety for big data," he said. "Microsoft Research's senior researcher Danaboid said. At a conference on big data at the University of California, Berkeley, last week, she said: "There is a general anxiety that you cannot be sure that your privacy information is inadvertently leaked." She asked, is this the social environment we want to build?

Imagine the challenges that the term "Ms. Boyd" faces in a highly networked society, if the traditional belief that people's names are just clouds. Take individual genetic data as an example. "If I reveal my personal genetic data to the 23ANDME gene testing company, it means that some of my brother's genetic data, my mother's data, and my future child's data are revealed." ”

Privacy is not universal, eternal. It is defined by who is talking about this information, or the expectation of social values. In some countries, women's ankles are a private issue; sexual orientation is very personal at a particular time and place. Ms. Boyd points out that privacy is different from security or anonymity. It is a person who has the ability to fully understand and control their own definition in an environment.

"We will change as we go along with the environment and the interaction." "she said. "By default, conversations in the hallways can be private, but they can also be made public by a certain amount of effort." On the Internet by default, our interaction is public, but through certain efforts, it can be turned into private. ”

Now, there are other ways that we lose control of our privacy. Through different datasets (in three-dimensional space, you're suddenly being asked by a lot of people about your information on LinkedIn, in four-dimensional space, you may just sit next to your competitor and be looked at at lunchtime, and people can now learn all about you, and that information is fundamentally different from the public information set.

What to do? Ms. Boyd has done a professional research on the behavior of young people on the Internet. She says they are often misled to seek control of the environment, such as constantly creating new Facebook accounts, or disguising, encrypting something for a long time, and concealing its true meaning. "I'm tired of all this," someone posted on Facebook. There will be 32 people point ' praise '. "she said. "When I start a field trip, I can tell you what people are talking about. But now I can't. ”

Ms. Boyd only sees a certain solution that we can prepare. "Make the relevant rules. "she said. You may not like it, you can close your eyes and pinch your nose, but the rules do have to come. ”

The question is what the rules are, and how they regulate our behavior. "Technology needs to be regulated again. "she said. "We need a model and really understand how to use it." "Now, even in the highest geek world," we have very low levels of computing, data literacy, and media literacy, all of which will bring fear of big data. ”

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)