The Big Business Of Big Data Collection

The NSA and the phone companies aren't the only ones vacuuming up your data. Who is? And should you be worried?

With guest host Dina Temple-Raston.

Big Data and intelligence.  That’s not just an NSA issue. Private companies have been quietly storing your personal information too. And it isn’t just what you are searching for on the Web or what you buy. There are operations trolling Twitter for your product preferences. Others capturing your license number .  A White House report warns about private data collection run amok. And officials are calling for new regulations to govern how private companies use your data.  This hour On Point: Who’s vacuuming up your data, and why.

David Sanger, national security correspondent for the New York Times. (@SangerNYT)

Bruce Schneier, cyrptographer and computer security expert. Blogs at Schneier on Security. Author of "Carry On: Sound Advice From Schneier on Security." (@schneierblog)

Kennieth Cukier, data editor for The Economist. Co-author, with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, of "Learning with Big Data: the Future of Education" and "Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think." (@kncukier)

Todd Hodnett, founder and chairman of the Digital Recognition Network.

New York Times: In Surveillance Debate, White House Turns Its Focus to Silicon Valley — "At their core, the questions about the N.S.A. are strikingly similar to those about how Google, Yahoo, Facebook and thousands of application makers crunch their numbers. The difference is over the question of how far the government will go to restrain the growth of its own post-Sept. 11 abilities, and whether it will decide the time has come to intrude on what private industry collects, in the name of protecting privacy or preventing new forms of discrimination."

Los Angeles Times: Ownership of personal data still appears up for grabs — "While the report addresses the ease with which people's information can be collected, crunched and put to use, it fails to adequately convey the sense of violation that comes with businesses and government officials knowing your habits, behavior and activities. Privacy advocates welcomed the administration's attention to these issues but said the report didn't go far enough in keeping people's personal data under wraps."

Washington Post: White House releases big data and privacy report — "Two years ago, the president called for a consumer data 'bill of rights,' that would protect consumers when companies collected data about their activities. But the subsequent release of classified information by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden complicated that effort, which never gained traction on Capitol Hill. In Thursday's report, the panel recommended that the bill of rights proposal be revived and advanced."