Who is in fear of large data?

Is Alibaba a "data thief"? can Tencent "monitor" My chat record? Will Baidu record all my search records? Recently, a series of events on data have brought the media and the public back to the original right and wrong about Big data: Big data will not reveal personal privacy, and ultimately, like the matrix As it is revealed, people are controlled by computers.

In fact, the publicity and sermons on big data can be said to be the most enjoyed by internet companies: It appears that the company has a sense of future, a sense of science and technology, a benefit to society and a benefit to users. But in fact, the global application of large data is at an early stage, the most useful application of large data is not in hindsight, to promote and improve the business, but to do things that could not be done before. But even so, the fear of data security has reached a level: will big companies become "data thieves"? Or will they become great brother, knowing all the things of everyone, and if "doing evil", the consequences would be disastrous?

This time, it is inevitable to mention a few misconceptions about large data:

First, the accumulation of large data by "stealing"?

Pay-pass and Alipay after "breaking up", the pay-pass hint, is to pay the excess user data query causes its system cost increase and eventually lead to a breakup. That is to say, pay-pass is accusing Alipay of "stealing" data. Here we do not discuss the grievances and wrongs of these two companies, we need to clarify is that the accumulation of data, really rely on "stealing"?

People who are so understanding still interpret large data as "large numbers", and the bigger the better. But the essence and gist of large data is not big, but online, usable and mobile. To say "big" data, the European collision Lab did an experiment on the data produced, 100 bat analysis is not finished. Most of the data stored in tapes, films, and even the real world in the past cannot be useful for future events-they are not yet online.

After the popularity of the internet, produced more data, and Google found the way people use the data, made a search engine, the data into business. Therefore, the nature of large data is not "big", but is online, available, mobile. To seize the opportunity of large data must be in the idea of breaking the idea of "monopoly" data, data can not be used is a heap of storage space will occupy only useless bytes. Some traditional enterprises because of the lack of large data technology and experience, the face of the tide of large data may habitually adopt a "self-closed" approach, this is nothing but let oneself and the times more disjointed. And even Ali, Tencent, Baidu, such as large internet companies, seemingly mastered a huge amount of data, but compared with the accumulation of the whole society is only bucket, the same need to keep the data with the external open and share, and think of a data sharing both sides can benefit and achieve data value-added channels.

Second, how do you make money from data?

The data is not a new thing, the power company has all your electricity consumption information and even your home address, mobile operators have all of your money consumption information, the hospital has your health information, but how to explore the value of these data greater? The real value of large data is certainly not used to predict the World Cup, and at present all large data applications, The real commercial industrialization is still in the Internet loans.

Remember how banks lent to small businesses? The situation is: do not lend at all. Because the cost of assessing risk is too high: the bank sends individual field trips, check the water meter phone, the cost of human and material costs are thousands; On the other hand, Ali small loan a loan is not more than 1 dollars, then, this cost savings, and even lead to changes in the pattern, how to measure "How much money?" hard to measure.

Overall, in fact, internet companies currently use large data to "make money" there are two modes: first, to provide the foundation of the large processing capacity, industry-oriented, rental fees, the second is through data sharing and exchange to open up new business model, common splitting.

The first model, there are many cases. For example, the face Meng team rented a cloud infrastructure, only 73 dollars a month it costs cases are widely disseminated.

The second pattern is more complex than the first. Tencent, for example, can extract the transaction data and the effective data from the social network, and work with some functional websites (such as century Jiayuan, 51Job, net, public comments) and so on. The logic behind it is that people who have good credit in online shopping may be less likely to cheat on marriage. In addition, Ali, Tencent both acquired or invested in the map company, then the electricity quotient data can and location information through, can you buy insurance on the payment of treasure on the people (must be car family) to provide customized services? can Alipay and PetroChina Sinopec cooperate to directly turn the gas station into a self point? The beginning of the imagination, Cooperation opportunities and possible business models are much more.

Third, can big companies do everything?

One thing to admit is that only large companies have the financial and material resources to do the data infrastructure. But big companies can't do everything. The commercial value of large data is that companies that use large data do well, and the meaning of platform companies is to provide easy-to-use data tools and infrastructure.

From Ali, Tencent, Baidu several cloud computing (the basis of data processing), the establishment of autonomous, can adapt to internet requirements, to make up for IoE (IBM, Oracle, EMC) Flexibility disadvantage of infrastructure, investment in more than 5 years is a basic amount. Aliyun, Tencent once the "Typhoon" project, Baidu's "pyramid" project are through bumpy, some gradually to success, and some died in short-term effects and long-term effect of the balance.

Big business can play big data, but big companies do not take the whole big data era. The main reason is: first, large data needs to be invigorated, and the need to activate mobile, need to share. Otherwise "Big data" is just "big data". and the flow and sharing from the large-scale platform and a variety of vertical web site cooperation, more, and non-internet companies to cooperate.

Second, the advantage of large internet companies lies in the nature of the platform: To do the platform, rather than to personally end up doing specific business. For all industry companies, the data to activate and use is a deep understanding of the industry, this is the Internet company itself is difficult to achieve.

Four, why does not the big data The classic case appear?

In the past few years, the case of Google data predicting influenza has been widely disseminated. The case of beer and diapers is like a piece of iron, rust in the mouths of people. And the Internet companies used to Bo eyeball of the so-called Big Data analysis game, college Entrance Examination composition, Spring Festival, and so on, its essence is nothing more than an Excel form, but afterwards statistics, and no further prediction, influence economic decision-making role.

Is it that people are too hungry for big data? Are internet companies too excited about new business opportunities as the demographic dividend fades away? To be sure, at present, the application of data, understanding, and even reasonable storage methods, are still in the initial stage. For the future core competitiveness of assets, the data will not be like gorgeous fireworks bloom, more like air, water, electricity, in a silent way immersed in and change the world.

And what we have to do is not to let fear crowd out the wonderful.