Data for the People
Buy from Other Retailers:
Every time we Google something, Facebook someone, Uber somewhere, or even just turn on a light, we create data that businesses collect and use to make decisions about us. In many ways...
Every time we Google something, Facebook someone, Uber somewhere, or even just turn on a light, we create data that businesses collect and use to make decisions about us. In many ways this has improved our lives, yet, we as individuals do not benefit from this wealth of data as much as we could. Moreover, whether it is a bank evaluating our credit worthiness, an insurance company determining our risk level, or a potential employer deciding whether we get a job, it is likely that this data will be used against us rather than for us.
In Data for the People, Andreas Weigend draws on his years as a consultant for commerce, education, healthcare, travel and finance companies to outline how Big Data can work better for all of us. As of today, how much we benefit from Big Data depends on how closely the interests of big companies align with our own. Too often, outdated standards of control and privacy force us into unfair contracts with data companies, but it doesn't have to be this way. Weigend makes a powerful argument that we need to take control of how our data is used to actually make it work for us. Only then can we the people get back more from Big Data than we give it.
Big Data is here to stay. Now is the time to find out how we can be empowered by it.
Published By Basic Books
Format Hardback
Number Of Pages 272
Publication Date 01/31/2017
ISBN 9780465044696
Dimensions 6.25 inches x 9.25 inches
"An exhaustive and insightful look at how data is collected and uses... Weigend argues persuasively that in this 'post-privacy' world, we should give our data freely, but that we should expect certain protections in return."
"[Weigend] makes a strong case for what we need-the right to amend or blur the data that pertains to us, the freedom to experiment with it and take it with us to other sites and services, and the ability to insist that data refineries be clear about how they're using our information."
"Weigend is a bold explorer of the technological future. His compelling book maps the opportunities of a world without secrets."
"The author maintains the intellectual complexity of his subject while remaining accessible to readers searching for the truth about the salability of their privacy, the nuances of data sharing, and the ways to cloak their digital footprints. A cautionary, cohesively delivered update on the scope and science of human quantification."
"Data-abundant, ubiquitous, personal-is restructuring our competing values of privacy, convenience, identity, and control. No one understands this better than Weigend, and with Data For the People, he helps the rest of us understand it as well."
"Finally a highly readable and heartfelt book about data by a leading technologist! Andreas Weigend writes with superb clarity about the most important issue of the early 20th century-the data economy and its threat to our privacy and individual rights. The narrative of his own personal journey from East Germany to becoming the Chief Scientist at Amazon.com is also compelling. Overall a major work by one of the world's leading authorities on data."