Big Data's Impact on Privacy for Librarians and Information Professionals

Abstract

EDITOR'S SUMMARYIn a digital age, it is very difficult to maintain complete privacy when posting on social media or making purchases. Individual activity on the internet is increasingly collected by corporations, even with the user's knowledge, and can be used to predict future behavior, purchasing choices or other sensitive subjects. This data analysis is often done without a user's consent and in many cases presents unethical behavior and breaches of privacy. In the world of libraries, the privacy of patrons has been tantamount for decades, but trying to keep up with privacy codes and still make use of this big data can be challenging for librarians. Big data can be beneficial to libraries in many ways, and if pointed at library systems, rather than the habits of patrons, can also keep privacy intact.