Data of the People, by the People, for the People

Every time we search the Web, use our phone, read an email—or even turn on a light—we create data that businesses collect and use for decisions. As the exponential increase of data continues, it will likely continue to drive innovation and economic growth. But even as new data-driven experiences make life more convenient, big data could also work against individuals rather than for them—for instance, when a bank evaluates credit, or a potential employer decides on a hire. As this disparity becomes more apparent, Weigend argues that efforts to shield yourself from data tracking aren’t in an individual’s best interest. In our post-privacy era, he shows that the cost of trying to maintain privacy outweighs the benefits of the data-dependent services we rely on today from making purchases, to ride-sharing to dating.

In a talk about his new book, DATA FOR THE PEOPLE: How to Make Our Post-Privacy Economy Work For You,  Weigend will chart a path forward by answering questions such as:  What types of transparency and control should be available to individuals, e.g., should people be able to blur their geolocation? What should industry and government do to incentivize transparency, privacy and security? What will it take to achieve a win-win? For data refiners and individuals alike, this is a chance to explore these questions and more with an experienced guide.

Presenter(s)

Andreas Weigend is an expert on social-local-mobile technologies, big data, and consumer behavior, the combination of which he calls the social data revolution. He was the chief scientist at Amazon, where he helped create that company’s culture of data, experimentation, and innovation.  He is the founder and director of the Social Data Lab, a mentor at Stanford’s StartX, and a lecturer at UC Berkeley. His clients include Alibaba, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, GE, Hyatt, Lufthansa, MasterCard, Tencent, and the World Economic Forum.  He received his PhD in physics from Stanford and now lives in San Francisco, Shanghai, and on weigend.com.