Engaging discussion the concept of Big Data. As Berners-Lee asked us for data as in Linked Data, Pentland argues that people at the micro levels will provide the information in Big Data that will change the societies we live in. His spin is positive in that he believes BD will offer opportunities for improved medicine, better financial systems and better government. Amazing discussion. Really speaks to info management technologies.
the WikiLeaks threat and the persistent leaking of other supposedly confidential corporate information have brought an important issue to the fore.
Companies are creating an ever-growing pile of digital information, from product designs to employees' e-mails.
Much of this information would do little damage if it seeped into the outside world; some of it, indeed, might well do some good. But some could also be valuable to competitors—or simply embarrassing—and needs to be protected. Companies therefore have to decide what they should try to keep to themselves and how best to secure it.
more and more data are seeping out of companies, even of the sort that should be well protected.
To be able to work better with data, employees often transfer them into spreadsheets and other types of files that are easier to manipulate—but also easier to lose control of.
Although most leaks are not deliberate, many are.
“data loss prevention” (DLP).
software that sits at the edge of a firm's network and inspects the outgoing data traffic.
“bells in the dark”. False records—made-up pieces of e-mail, say—are spread around the network. Because they are false, no one should gain access to them. If somebody does, an alarm is triggered
In the corporate world, to limit the channels through which data can escape, some companies do not allow employees to bring their own gear to work or to use memory sticks or certain online services.
How then to strike the right balance between secrecy and transparency?
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, issues “speeding tickets” to employees who break its rules.
Transparency is not just a natural inclination but a necessity, says Mitchell Baker, who chairs the foundation. If Mozilla kept its cards close to the chest, its global community of developers would not and could not help write the program. So it keeps secrets to a minimum: employees' personal information, data that business partners do not want made public and security issues in its software.