Ethical and Privacy Concerns of Big Data - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal on Ethical and Privacy issues of big data Name Institution Introduction With the rapid growth and development of ICT, numerous challenges have emerged for companies on how best to manage their large volumes of data (Henschen, 2011). According to Russell (2012), there is empirical evidence that technological advancement is taking place at a faster rate leading to accumulation of large volumes of data that are stored in stand-alone computers, servers and or in cloud space. Because some Small and Medium Enterprises, large-sized companies and other organizations lacks the necessary infrastructure to securely store their data, they either outsource for storage services and/or buy new storage facilities. As such, the availability, confidentiality, authenticity and privacy of the data become a major concern. This is because secretive business information is stored by third party whom the owner may not have exclusive control over him. As required by law, customers have right to privacy in respect of the applicable privacy law (Prema, 2001). In that case therefore, all organizations specializing in data storage must adhere to good practices of data protection especially its availability, confidentiality and privacy (Emerald, 2012; Prema, 2001). According to Avabade (2012), although ttechnology is being lauded as a milestone in the information technology, with emergence of IT infrastructures such as cloud computing, security of data will continue to be a major concern there is a growing concern in coming years (Beyer, 2011). Thus there is need to institute measures that will safeguard the authenticity of such data. The research question In this proposal, ethical and privacy concerns of large volumes of data will be researched on to detail. Issues of concern that will be addressed include the confidentiality, identity, authenticity, transparency and privacy of data. In that respect, the research question of this proposal is: How and what measures can be implemented protect and guarantee the confidentiality, privacy, security and privacy of large volumes of data storage in various ICT infrastructures? Justification of the research In this era, there is a lot of information and data gathering which is consequently being used for in analyzing markets and aid in strategizing. Such is for instance by large businesses, institutions, government agencies and other organizations that use computer information systems (Avabade, 2012). In that respect, a lot of information is either stored in local computer hard disks, servers within a company’s premises and/or stored in an outsourced cloud-based company. Therefore, it is clearly evident that the possession of the data which is crucial to the business changes hand thereby introducing relations with a third party. This obviously has implications on the ethical and privacy aspect of an organization since in most cases, the large volumes of data comprises of business secrets (Wu et al., 2012). Questions that arise in such cases are for instance, who is the owner of the information? What are the responsibilities of the organization that manages the data? What are the obligations and privacy issues? What are the ethics in perspective of technology? (Stephen & Tuan, 2013). The only way of achieving this is by using this information for beneficial purposes as a way of tackling privacy and ethical issues of big data technology. In another perspective, the fact that some large data sizes are in some cases stored within a third party’s ICT infrastructure, it can be accessed by a competitor without proper authority and authentication. This is a risk to the owner of the data which can lead to sabotage especially in the market. It is this respect that Brown et al., (2011), notes that there is need for instituting measures to asses risks involved in big data storage. In concurrence, Choudhury (2013), it is important for any organization to evaluate the economic gains in relation to the cost-benefit analysis of ethical and privacy paradigms of storing big data. In the current situation, a lot of organizations, business and companies have no solid framework in which they guarantee confidentiality, privacy and authenticity of big data volumes (Sonja & Amrik, 2004). Besides, in order to guarantee the aforementioned parameters, there need to be a mechanism for assessing risks and means to reduce mitigate the risks as well as posited by Russell (2012). The risk mechanisms will ensure that ethical and privacy concerns in legal, social and economic perspectives are addressed sufficiently. In that case, therefore, this research proposal will identify ways in an infrastructure that guarantees ethical and privacy principles of data are guaranteed (Kai, Mohammad & Jun, 2013; Saxby, 2013). Preliminary literature review According to Wright et al. (2009), information security has nowadays emerged as ubiquitous networking, pervasive computing and/or ambient intelligence thereby raising a lot of trust, privacy and ethical concerns. The concerns are interdependent and they pose a serious challenge to stakeholders and policy-makers because with the rapid growth of ICT, the notion of ethics and privacy are consistently changing (Drosatos et al., 2014). Besides, as organizations continue to computerize their activities, there is a lot of data accumulation leading to voluminous data sizes. This is necessitated the emergence of infrastructures such as cloud computing which is most cases is outsourced. As such, ethical and privacy concerns of storing and managing large data size brings about societal, political, economic and technical challenges that need to be put into consideration. In concurrence, Wu et al. (2012) argue that the fact that internet and computer networks have no regulated and restrictions and/or borders, privacy and ethics is a major concern in instances where voluminous amount of data stored. In particular, apprehensions is for instance the constant increases of databases, amount of data collected, likelihood of violation of privacy agreements, losing control of processes involved in collection, accessing and utilization of data (Tony & Marta, 2009). Achieving the aforementioned aspects means that confidentiality and privacy of data is achieved which goes a long in building trust of the clientele base. It is only through that way it can be argued, ethical and privacy dimensions of big data has been achieved (Drosatos et al., 2014). Theoretical framework In this research, a theoretical based approach will be used to explain the key concepts of ethical and privacy perspectives. This will facilitate proper understanding of the research topic and as well. Most of the theoretical underpinnings of the research will totally be derived from literature review. It is for instance the privacy perspectives relating to management of big data, recent issues of concern relating to cloud computing, socio-economic and political challenges of storing and managing large volumes of data. As such, the theoretical perspective of this research will come in handy at simplifying the mains ethical and privacy issues of the research. Contribution of the research This research will contribute to the research area by bringing identifying measures that can be utilized in safeguarding the ethical and privacy concerns in storage and management of bog data. The outcomes in this research will be of benefit to small and medium enterprises, government agencies and other large organizations in approaches they can use to ensure authenticity of data (Avabade, 2012). On the other hand, this research will strike a balance between ethical and privacy of large-sized data and safeguarding of an organization’s cyber confidentiality (Wright et al., 2009). In addition, some of the cardinal acknowledgements will for instance be; the various risks to privacy related with storage of voluminous data, that the right to privacy of data is a fundamental right in ICT like in any other perspective, the need for having data protection laws is paramount in the current era and the rapidly growing and use of ICT infrastructure to handle large data sizes gives rise to a lot of complex ethical and privacy concerns thereby leading to issues for instance cybersecurity and cyber threats (Saxby, 2013). In that case, by understanding the various tenets of from an ethical and privacy perspective, it becomes simple to institute necessary infrastructure for safeguarding confidentiality, authenticity and privacy of data. Research methodology The research will involve various approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, in order to gather information relating to ethical and privacy concerns of handling big data (Creswell, 2009). One way in which data will be gathered includes the use of survey-based questionnaires (Flick, 2009). The other important internet surveys are by the use of questionnaires that are sent through emails only for willing participants. The scope of the surveys will include taking a closer look at the ways in which large companies have managed their data and the challenges they have encountered all along (Charmaz, 2006; Inaam et al., 2011). Secondly, case study approach will be useful in which case personal interviews will be scheduled especially with management of sampled organizations that handles big data. The participants will be mainly company managers and some staff in those premises. The data collection process will be allocated a maximum of three weeks in which case at the end it will be prepared for analysis using relevant computer programs for instance SPSS program (Coakes, Steed & Dzidic, 2006). Research plan 1 Introduction gives background to Big Data technology ethical issues and answers the question as to how companies can harness data for positive outcome 2 Research question: identification of problem statement and development of thesis statement 3 Justification of the research: the importance and scope of the research 4 Literature review: overview of existing studies, their implications and limitations 5 Theoretical underpinnings 6 Contribution of the research on the existing studies and how the outcome is important for the scope of the study or areas affected. Timetable of the proposed research References Avabade, (June 2012). Global survey: is big data producing big returns?. Research & Insights, retrieved from http://www.avanade.com/Documents/Research%20and%20Insights/avanade-big-data-executive-summary-2012.pdf Beyer, M.A. (2011). ‘Big Data’ and extreme information processing and management. in Phifer, G. (Eds),Gartner Hype Cycle for Web and User Interaction Technologies 2011, Gartner, Inc., Stamford, CT, pp.23-25. Brown, B., Chui, M., Manyika, J. (2011). Are you ready for the era of ‘big data’? Parsing the benefits: not all industries are created equal. The McKinsey Quarterly, 1(4), 24-35. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. London: Sage Publications. Choudhury, V. (September 2013). People Matters Media, how big data will revolutionise business, retrieved from http://www.peoplematters.in/article/2013/09/03/performance-management/how-big-data-will-revolutionise-business/3533 Coakes, S.J., Steed, L., Dzidic, P. (2006), SPSS Analysis Without Anguish, Version 13.0, Wiley, Milton, Creswell, J. (2009) 'Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches', Sage Publications Ltd. Drosatos, G., Efraimidis, Pavlos, S., Athanasiadis, I. N., Stevens, M., D’Hondt, E. (2014). 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Russell, P (2012), harnessing the power of big data, Experian’s guide to Big Data for financial services, http://www.experian.co.uk/assets/consumer-information/white-papers/Harnessing%20the%20power%20of%20Big%20Data.pdf Sonja, P. L. & Amrik S. S.(2004). Nature of e-business ethical dilemmas. Information Management & Computer Security, 12(2), 167 – 177. Saxby, S. (2013). The 2012 CLSR-LSPI seminar on privacy, data protection & cyber-security – Presented at the 7th international conference on Legal, Security and Privacy Issues in IT law (LSPI) October 2–4, 2012, Athens , Computer Law & Security Review, 29(1), 4-12 Stephen F, Tuan, D. (2013). Getting real about Big Data: applying critical realism to analyse Big Data hype. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 6(4), 739 - 760 Tony H & Marta,V.(2009). Establishing business integrity in an online environment: An examination of New Zealand web site privacy notices. Online Information Review, 33(2), 343 – 361. Wu, K.W., Shaio, Huang, Y., Yen, D. C. & Popova, I. (2012). The effect of online privacy policy on consumer privacy concern and trust. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(3), 889-897. Wright, D., Gutwirth, S., Friedewald, M., Hert, P. D., Langheinrich, M. & Moscibroda, A. (2009). Privacy, trust and policy-making: Challenges and responses. Computer Law & Security Review, 25(1), 69-83. Read More