Why Big Data Is Not Truth

The word “data” connotes fixed numbers inside hard grids of information, and as a result, it is easily mistaken for fact. But including bad product introductions and wars, we have many examples of bad data causing big mistakes. Big Data raises bigger issues. The term suggests assembling many facts to create greater, previously unseen truths. It suggests the certainty of math. That promise of certainty has been a hallmark of the technology industry for decades. With Big Data, however, there are even more hazards, some human and some inherent in the technology.

Kate Crawford, a researcher at Microsoft Research, calls the problem “Big Data fundamentalism — the idea with larger data sets, we get closer to objective truth.” She identified “six myths of Big Data”: Myth 1: Big Data is New. Myth 2: Big Data Is Objective. Myth 3: Big Data Doesn’t Discriminate. Myth 4: Big Data Makes Cities Smart. Myth 5: Big Data Is Anonymous. Myth 6: You Can Opt Out.