From: Bernie Reilly <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 15:11:30 +0000

Interesting John Markoff column in yesterday’s New York Times, “Troves
of Personal Data, Forbidden to Researchers,” about issues that arise
when social science researchers, others use commercially held “big
data:" a new fact of life in the cloud era.

Quote:  It is “big data,” the vast sets of information gathered by
researchers at companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft from
patterns of cell phone calls, text messages and Internet clicks by
millions of users around the world. Companies often refuse to make
such information public, sometimes for competitive reasons and
sometimes to protect customers’ privacy. But to many scientists, the
practice is an invitation to bad science, secrecy and even potential
fraud.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/science/big-data-troves-stay-forbidden-to-social-scientists.html?ref=technology

Bernie Reilly
CRL Global Resources