In September 2019, I stopped using Google Chrome as my default browser and Google as my default search engine. The reason I did this was because I was starting to get a little concerned about my privacy online.
Some days ago, I was on a call with one of my friends. He is working as a software engineer, but he was looking for a career change. Guess what he was considering — Big Data! I wasn’t surprised, but asked him why. His reasons were simple — big data was a blooming field with lots of job opportunities, good salary and a lot of startups, in case he needed to get an internship.
The Driving Factor of Big Data
That night, I sat down and wondered what was driving big data and why is it becoming so important these days. You would be surprised if you don’t know yet, but the fact is that it’s you. You and me both, we are the drivers of big data.
Big data companies know more about you than you know about yourself.
It’s simple. When you do a search on Google for something, the next moment you see an amazon ad for the same, even when you are browsing a website that has got nothing to do with the particular product. I love Jeeps and in fact own one, but I can assure you that if I open my phone and read a review about a Hyundai car, I could still see a Jeep ad somewhere in the corner.
Exciting and creepy at the same time, I find it interesting to see how companies can use your activity as data, which helps them earn money. We’re talking billions and millions here. Technically, you and I should own royalty for that, in a perfect world. But we don’t. Instead, we pay for it — our internet connection, the smart devices we have at home, our telephone bill etc. If you calculate everything, it will at least add up to 500 dollars a month.
The Ethical Question of Big Data
You might wonder how this is considered ethical in today’s world. If a company can earn millions of dollars with your data, they can pay a part of it to a legal professional to…
