《Data for the People》

by Andreas S Weigend (Author)

Product details

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Basic Books (16 Feb. 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0465044697

ISBN-13: 978-0465044696

Product Dimensions:15.7 x 3.6 x 23.6 cm

Product Description

A long-time chief data scientist at Amaz0n shows how open data can make everyone, not just corporations, richer Every time we Google something, Facebook someone, Uber somewhere, or even just turn on a light, we create data that businesses collect and use to make decisions about us. In many ways this has improved our lives, yet, we as individuals do not benefit from this wealth of data as much as we could. Moreover, whether it is a bank evaluating our credit worthiness, an insurance company determining our risk level, or a potential employer deciding whether we get a job, it is likely that this data will be used against us rather than for us. In Data for the People, Andreas Weigend draws on his years as a consultant for commerce, education, healthcare, travel and finance companies to outline how Big Data can work better for all of us. As of today, how much we benefit from Big Data depends on how closely the interests of big companies align with our own. Too often, outdated standards of control and privacy force us into unfair contracts with data companies, but it doesn't have to be this way. Weigend makes a powerful argument that we need to take control of how our data is used to actually make it work for us. Only then can we the people get back more from Big Data than we give it. Big Data is here to stay. Now is the time to find out how we can be empowered by it.

Review

The author maintains the intellectual complexity of his subject while remaining accessible to readers searching for the truth about the salability of their privacy, the nuances of data sharing, and the ways to cloak their digital footprints. A cautionary, cohesively delivered update on the scope and science of human quantification.
Kirkus Reviews 
Weigend is a bold explorer of the technological future. His compelling book maps the opportunities of a world without secrets.
Daniel Kahneman, author ofThinking Fast and Slow 
Data for the People asks us to think seriously about the data we generate in our online world, and how we are increasingly losing control over it. Andreas acknowledges and embraces this future, and provides a framework and a call to action to ensure that in this world, as consumers, we can use and control our data in ways that are both transparent and beneficial to us.
Vinod Khosla, Partner at Khosla Ventures 
Dataabundant, ubiquitous, personalis restructuring our competing values of privacy, convenience, identity, and control. No one understands this better than Weigend, and withData For the People, he helps the rest of us understand it as well.
Clay Shirky, author ofHere Comes Everybody

About the Author

Andreas Weigend is one of the world's foremost experts on the future of big data, social-mobile technologies, and consumer behavior. He teaches at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in China. He is the founder and director of the Social Data Lab. He lives in San Francisco, California.