Author: Cesar Hidalgo, Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, Alex Pentland
Publisher: The Christian Science Monitor
Publication Year: 2013
Summary: The following op-ed discusses how the authors call into question some of the actions taken by the National Security Agency (NSA), specifically widespread spying on civilians without probable cause or warrants. They propose allowing citizens to control their data better will prevent this overreach. While the principle seems reasonable, this may not be a viable solution as data will constantly be created around individuals who will not go in their proposed controlled file. In addition to this, no mechanism truly stops unethical spying. It feels like saying, “the government is bad, and therefore we need to put people in charge of their data,” when in reality, if the government is terrible, they will violate the people’s ability to control their data from the moment that feature is created. Instead, a legislative approach is needed where the whole system is reformed with the Patriot Act repealed and the fourth amendment being respected.