The Truth About Data Collection And How “Personal” Your Information Really Is

Big Data Has Its Coming Out Party

Photo Credit: Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW

More decades businesses have claimed the data collected is for the benefit of the consumer. In 1989 Erik Larson coined the term “Big Data” and challenged the claim, telling Harpers Bazaar, “data has a way of being used for purposes other than originally intended.”

Big Data took its next significant step in 1991 with the creation of the internet. Tim Berners-Lee laid out the parameters and specifics for a globally connected “web of data.” And just like the Codd’s “relational database” the internet would be accessible to anyone.