Improved decision making, faster time to market, better customer service and increased profits are just some of the benefits contributing to the explosion of big data implementation across enterprises of all sizes. The World Economic Forum describes the personal information garnered by big data as “the new ‘oil’—a valuable resource of the 21st century.” Big data analytics is the “new engine of economic and social value creation.” Enterprises eager to reap the benefits of big data and its vast potential are recognizing their responsibility to protect the privacy of the personal data gathered and analyzed with big data. Risk and maintaining adequate mechanisms to govern and protect privacy need to be major areas of focus in any big data initiative.
