The Brutal Fight to Mine Your Data and Sell It to Your Boss

Posted by & filed under Big Data, bots, Ethical Issues.

HiQ is a “people analytics” firm that creates software tools for corporate human resources departments. Its Skill Mapper graphically represents the credentials and abilities of a workforce; its Keeper service identifies when employees are at risk of leaving for another job. Both draw the overwhelming majority of their data from a single trove: the material that is… Read more »

How WhatsApp is being abused in Brazil’s elections

Posted by & filed under Big Data, Civil Liberties, data analytics, data mining.

Political campaigners in Brazil have used software that scrapes Facebook for citizens’ phone numbers, and then automatically sends them WhatsApp messages and adds them to WhatsApp groups. Almost three weeks ago, 147 million voters in the country went to the polls for legislative elections and the first round of the presidential elections. This Sunday, they… Read more »

The Brutal Fight to Mine Your Data and Sell It to Your Boss

Posted by & filed under Big Data, bots, Business Intelligence, data mining, Electronic Surveillance, Ethical Issues.

HiQ is a “people analytics” firm that creates software tools for corporate human resources departments. Its Skill Mapper graphically represents the credentials and abilities of a workforce; its Keeper service identifies when employees are at risk of leaving for another job. Both draw the overwhelming majority of their data from a single trove: the material that is… Read more »

Data is not the new oil

Posted by & filed under Big Data.

The Economist, a venerable British weekly newspaper recently said of data: “A new commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing industry, prompting anti-trust regulators to step in to restrain those who control its flow.” Never mind that data isn’t particularly new (though the volume may be) – this argument does, at first glance, have much to recommend… Read more »

The most in-demand job title at companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon

Posted by & filed under Big Data, data analytics.

Jobs at tech companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook are the most sought-after roles around. But what type of employees are these companies looking to for? Data analysis site Paysa looked at over 8,200 job posting and over 70,000 resumes at tech companies worth $10 billion or more to find what roles they are hiring for the most. Source: CNBC Date: September… Read more »

Why your car servicing costs could be about to rise

Posted by & filed under Big Data, data analytics, Emerging Technologies, Ethical Issues.

An almighty row has broken out over who should have access to all the data new cars generate.  Manufacturers want to have control of it all, but independent repair shops, fleet operators, insurance companies and anyone else who could benefit from this data, argue that this would be blatantly anti-competitive. Source: BBC Technology News Date: March 1st,… Read more »

Uber to share data to help ease city congestion

Posted by & filed under Analytics, Big Data, Electronic Surveillance, Ethical Issues, Uber.

Uber is launching a website outlining how its cars move around cities, in an effort to appease city authorities who have long called for more data sharing.  It will provide data on dozens of cities from next month.  Uber’s transportation data could help cities to improve traffic flow.  The controversial app-based taxi service had previously… Read more »

Microsoft’s Old-School Database Was the Surprise Software Hit of the Year

Posted by & filed under Big Data, Database, microsoft.

DON’T CALL IT a comeback, but Microsoft’s database software may be seeing a resurgence. According to research conducted by the Austrian consulting company Solid IT, Microsoft SQL Server’s popularity grew faster than any other database product the company tracked on its DB-Engines site during 2016. Source: Wired Magazine Date: January 4th, 2017 Link: https://www.wired.com/2017/01/microsofts-old-school-database-surprise-software-hit-year/ Discussion 1) You might… Read more »