How Big Data Justifies Mining Your Social Data

GMGruman writes "Paul Krill reports that one of the big uses of the new "Big Data" analytics technology is to mine the information people post through social networking. Which led him to ask 'What gives Twitter, Facebook, et al. the right to mine that data?' It turns out, users do when they sign up for social networking services, even if they don't realize that — but less clear is the ownership of other information on the Web that these tools also mine."

Comments

Technically, not true in Canada

[WillAffleckUW]

Canadian citizens have a right to Privacy that is stronger.

Regardless of what the American lawyers for these companies tell you, it's in the Canadian Constitution.

And, for that matter, EU citizens also have stronger Rights in these regards, especially in terms of data sharing.

Just because a lawyer tells you something, doesn't make it true - my family is full of lawyers and lots of my friends are lawyers or judges too.

Re:News?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law.

Well it bloody well ought to be. Laws are written by a caste of high priests in an arcane domain-specific language, behind closed doors and in the dead of night. They *intend* them to be unknowable by non-lawyers; it's part of the business model.

REALLY concerned about privacy? DROP OUT...

[A Man Called Da-da]

...of facebook, twitter, etc. If enough people quit social disease networking (gasp, what will you do with your time??), then the corporations that run them will feel the pain and either change for the good, or go out of business. Both are wins for humanity. Alas, the reality is that, given lower numbers and a social forgetworking downturn, they'll just sell themselves to some big stupid brick-n-mortar conglomerate that doesn't know any better, where they'll limp into fad obscurity and resurge in 20 years as a peculiar, nostalgic fetish. Let asocial networking's EQUILIBRIUM OF MEDIOCRITY begin. -da-da