FTC chief: ‘Big data can have big consequences’

The head of the Federal Trade Commission is sounding the alarm about “big data.”

The ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of information can transform the way people eat, live, work and get around, Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said at the beginning of an agency workshop on the issue on Monday.

{mosads}“But the same analytic power that makes it easier to predict the outbreak of a virus, identify who is likely to suffer a heart attack, or improve the delivery of social services, also has the capacity to reinforce disadvantages faced by low-income and underserved communities,” she said, according to prepared remarks.

For instance, companies that use information about someone’s race, ethnicity or identity to develop their credit limit may be discriminating, she said.

“If we are alert to the risks presented by big data, we can take steps to guard against them,” Ramirez added. “We can help ensure that big data can be a tool for economic inclusion, not exclusion.”

The FTC has previously raised alarms about data brokers, the companies that collect, package and sell people’s information about where they shop and how they live. The companies use billions of bits of information to break people down into categories such as “Dog Owner” or “Biker Enthusiast.”

Earlier this year, the FTC asked Congress to enact a series of new laws to protect people from brokers that use their information to unfairly target them with advertisements and offers. 

When it comes to big data more broadly, however, Ramirez said that the FTC should identify how the collection of information could be violating the law, “build awareness” about its concerns and encourage businesses not to unfairly discriminate.

“Big data can have big consequences,” she said. “Those consequences can be either enormously beneficial to individuals and society or deeply detrimental. It will almost certainly be a mixture of the two.”

“But it is the responsibility of the FTC and others to help ensure that we maximize the power of big data for its capacity for good while identifying and minimizing the risks it presents,” Ramirez added.