How to swim through the ocean of big data

The world population is 7.6 billion people. About 4 billion currently have access to the internet. What does this mean? The ocean of personal data online is already huge, and there’s much more room to grow. This gives rise to two major challenges: 1. Containing your private data and 2. Regaining focus in a noisy data environment. Let’s tackle privacy first. Big Data is here to stay and Big Brother has found his new best friend. In China, the government is working on a citizen scoring system that will be in place by 2020. The trustworthiness of each citizen will be ranked by factors including political leanings, shopping habits, whether you pay bills on time, what you post on social media, and—possibly—who your friends are. While the Chinese government has publicly announced this initiative, large swaths of data collection worldwide is done indirectly. Think about the hotel review you submitted after a great holiday in the Caribbean. Or the â€Å"Like† button you pushed on a friend’s post. Sure, we know those interactions get registered somewhere, but do we really comprehend the volume of data being collected? â€Å"The concept of mass marketing has disappeared with big data,† says Ali Fenwick, Professor of Industrial-Organizational Behavior at Hult International Business School. â€Å"With big data, now we know who you are, where you are, what moves you, and what motivates you.† As Fenwick explains in a recent report, this kind of â€Å"soft† data is a treasure trove for businesses like Target or VISA in developing psychographic profiles of customers. â€Å"With big data, now we know who you are, where you are, what moves you, and what motivates you.† Ali Fenwick, Hult Professor of Industrial-Organizational Behavior Your private data isnt private Just ask Mozilla’s Chief Operating Officer, Denelle Dixon, who wanted to conduct a privacy experiment last summer in preparation for a TED talk. She offered herself up as a guinea pig, and Mozilla hired a private investigator to find out as much information about Dixon as possible by only providing her first and last name. The investigator did 24 hours of work and the result was eye-opening. â€Å"I was really shocked because of how far it went,† said Dixon. â€Å"They found information about where I lived for the past 25 years and my email addresses the past 25 years. They even had information about me from before I had a credit history.† The list goes on. The investigators found court documents of Dixon’s divorce and custody hearings. They identified the house Dixon was planning to buy and found out she just purchased a 1965 Mustang, even before the car records were processed. Since the investigators had permission to do surveillance, they took photos. â€Å"They had photos of me at 5:30 in the morning leaving the house, and I was looking straight at them,† says Dixon. â€Å"I live in a quiet area and you would think I would see them but I didn’t.† Lesson learned: it’s very easy to connect your online data with your offline life.  Dixon envisions a day when individuals can create their own so-called â€Å"privacy control center,† but that requires action from consumers and cooperation from organizations. For example, consumers should demand privacy notices to be clear and concise—not 25 pages of legal jargon. â€Å"A user shouldn’t be surprised with what a company is doing with their data,† says Dixon. â€Å"Instead of being defensive, a company should allow users to click here and tell the user the thing they’d be most surprised about. Those notices should really be handled by UX designers. We need to make them short and contextual.† â€Å"Be responsible for your own data. Think about what you write. If we account for ourselves online, we’re 80% of the way there. It’s not hard to trace a username back to you.† Denelle Dixon, Mozilla’s Chief Operating Officer Checking it once. Checking it twice. While maintaining privacy is one challenge, the second challenge is regaining our focus in the constant flow of information. The average American checks their phone 80 times a day, according to a survey by tech company Asurion. The addictive nature of social media boils down to the â€Å"reward† of a reply, a like, or an emoji. Tristan Harris is a former Googler and founder of Center for Humane Technology, a non-profit that is fighting against tech addiction. In an interview with CBS news show â€Å"60 Minutes† last year, Harris said, â€Å"Every time I check my phone, I’m playing the slot machine to see what did I get? This is one way to hijack people’s minds and create a habit†¦. You make it so when someone pulls a lever, sometimes they get a reward—an exciting reward.† Harris is teaming up with Common Sense Media’s CEO James Steyer to bring healthier tech habits to society. This means getting the tech giants to change. Steyer recently told CBS This Morning he is not â€Å"anti-tech.† He is calling on tech leaders like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Samsung to change things from the top, whether it means tweaking the business model of maximizing time spent online or adding parental controls in devices. In the meantime, some individuals are taking matters into their own hands. Marina Tsaplina is an artist in New York City who helps patients with chronic illnesses. She recently closed down most of her social media accounts. The turning point was a meditation retreat she attended last summer. â€Å"One of the practices is being mindful of consumption and that includes consumption of information. Is it serving you to serve others? I really had lost control and I no longer had the agency of not checking my phone quickly,† says Tsaplina. The result? My focus has sharpened dramatically, I no longer have this thing cutting my focus,† says Tsaplina. There is a loss of being updated, but its led me to more consciously reach  out to people and say, How are you? because I really don’t know. I haven’t been on Facebook.† Grow your leadership capabilities with an MBA in international business at Hult. To learn more, take a look at our blog New research seeks to reveal students’ hopes and fears about AI, or give your career a boost with our Masters in International Business. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself. Hult Rotation offers you a chance to study in a truly global way. Our rotation program allows you to study and be immersed in some of the finest cities in the world. 📠¸: @jasminmanzano . Hult Rotation offers you a chance to study in a truly global way. Our rotation program allows you to study and be immersed in some of the finest cities in the world. 📠¸: @jasminmanzano . Each year, Hult seeks to enroll a talented and ambitious incoming class from all over the world. We look for diverse students with a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and interests—students who will thrive in our unique educational atmosphere. Are you ready for a truly global experience? 📠¸: @iambrunadiniz . Each year, Hult seeks to enroll a talented and ambitious incoming class from all over the world. We look for diverse students with a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and interests—students who will thrive in our unique educational atmosphere. Are you ready for a truly global experience? 📠¸: @iambrunadiniz . We’re excited to start 2020 on a ranking high! Hult is proud to have been placed #28 in Poets Quants 2020 rankings for Best Undergraduate Business Schools in the US. Taking a huge leap of 32 places from our 2019 position, we’re also very happy to have secured top positions in key categories like: life-changing experience, practicality of the degree, and global immersion. . With five global campuses, a student body of over 130 nationalities, and a learn-by-doing approach—Hult offers a student experience like no other. . We’re excited to start 2020 on a ranking high! Hult is proud to have been placed #28 in Poets Quants 2020 rankings for Best Undergraduate Business Schools in the US. Taking a huge leap of 32 places from our 2019 position, we’re also very happy to have secured top positions in key categories like: life-changing experience, practicality of the degree, and global immersion. . With five global campuses, a student body of over 130 nationalities, and a learn-by-doing approach—Hult offers a student experience like no other. . â€Å"I’m from an engineering background and needed a whole new skill set for the industry I wanted to switch to. I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with being out of my comfort zone. I learned both soft and hard skills, from how to work in very diverse teams to key accounting metrics and strategy. I was surprised by how weak I was at certain tasks in English or how strong I actually was in other areas. Hult gave me opportunities to try new things and meet people from places I never thought I would have friends. . My internship experiences gave me the chance to broaden my view of different cultures and different companies. I had the opportunity to work and live with people whose values differed from people in my home country. I thought that this would be difficult, but it gave me the chance to reflect on my own values and assess if they were a result of my home country environment or if they were intrinsically mine. . Diederick ter Kulve (@diederick.terkulve) Netherlands Masters in International Business . â€Å"I’m from an engineering background and needed a whole new skill set for the industry I wanted to switch to. I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with being out of my comfort zone. I learned both soft and hard skills, from how to work in very diverse teams to key accounting metrics and strategy. I was surprised by how weak I was at certain tasks in English or how strong I actually was in other areas. Hult gave me opportunities to try new things and meet people from places I never thought I would have friends. . My internship experiences gave me the chance to broaden my view of different cultures and different companies. I had the opportunity to work and live with people whose values differed from people in my home country. I thought that this would be difficult, but it gave me the chance to reflect on my own values and assess if they were a result of my home country environment or if they were intrinsically mine. . Diederick ter Kulve (@diederick.terkulve) Netherlands Masters in International Business . Say a big hello to our Bachelor of Business Administration program cover star, Elisa Orus Plana âÅ" ¨ . â€Å"I’m excited for the future—especially that I cant predict whats going to happen. Maybe Ill end up in Mexico working for a trading company or maybe in Africa, developing my own business. Everything is possible, and the options are constantly changing. I love the idea that Im never going to be stuck doing the same job until the end of my life if I dont want it to be like this. . Hult really supports me and my ambitions and truly believes that we deserve to be considered as professionals as well as students. Here, I get to express not just my opinions but all elements of myself. From my creative side with the Fashion Society to my finance and business sides in Trading Club and the Management Consulting Club. We get a different type of learning here. Not just essential knowledge and theory, but practical skills and mindset. The school is always evolving. We’re encouraged to innovate and to always look for new ways of doing traditional things. We learn how to be more confident and become aware of how we can impact our environment. The school aims to help you become a better version of yourself and to stand out from the crowd.â€Å" . Elisa Orus Plana French Bachelor of Business Administration Class of 2021 Say a big hello to our Bachelor of Business Administration program cover star, Elisa Orus Plana âÅ" ¨ . â€Å"I’m excited for the future—especially that I cant predict whats going to happen. Maybe Ill end up in Mexico working for a trading company or maybe in Africa, developing my own business. Everything is possible, and the options are constantly changing. I love the idea that Im never going to be stuck doing the same job until the end of my life if I dont want it to be like this. . Hult really supports me and my ambitions and truly believes that we deserve to be considered as professionals as well as students. Here, I get to express not just my opinions but all elements of myself. From my creative side with the Fashion Society to my finance and business sides in Trading Club and the Management Consulting Club. We get a different type of learning here. Not just essential knowledge and theory, but practical skills and mindset. The school is always evolving. We’re encouraged to innovate and to always look for new ways of doing traditional things. We learn how to be more confident and become aware of how we can impact our environment. The school aims to help you become a better version of yourself and to stand out from the crowd.â€Å" . Elisa Orus Plana French Bachelor of Business Administration Class of 2021"> During the final days of 2019, you probably reflected on what you’ve accomplished this year—and even this decade—and what you’d like to achieve in 2020. Let us know in the comments below. During the final days of 2019, you probably reflected on what you’ve accomplished this year—and even this decade—and what you’d like to achieve in 2020. Let us know in the comments below. â€Å"The first time we did group work on the program, I went head-to-head with a colleague. It taught me a lot about how I see people, how people see me, and how conflict can be resolved in a kind and productive way. The best feedback you get, when delivered constructively, is the most critical because it really feeds into how you lead. I’ve completely reversed my leadership style—the result is so much richer and more powerful when you lead from behind and lead with strength. . Studying in tandem with working, whilst challenging, gave me the perfect platform to directly apply learning concepts into my business environment, the competitive landscape, and the real-estate industry as a whole. When I started the program, I was very happy in my corporate role. But my courage and aspirations grew to the point that I took on a whole new direction. Having my career coach, Joanna, as a sounding board allowed me to really be strategic and get to know myself. She coached me thro ugh all the interviews, the research, and the questions. It went in parallel with what I was doing academically and after six months everything just clicked. . I went into the EMBA knowing I had nothing to lose and I’ve come out with everything. Great strength, global friends, amazing learning, mentors from professors, a job I love, and the knowledge that I can set my mind to achieve anything and with the right support and resources I’ll get there.† . Kashani Wijetunga British, New Zealand Sri Lankan Associate Director Senior Strategy Consultant CBRE EMBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"The first time we did group work on the program, I went head-to-head with a colleague. It taught me a lot about how I see people, how people see me, and how conflict can be resolved in a kind and productive way. The best feedback you get, when delivered constructively, is the most critical because it really feeds into how you lead. I’ve completely reversed my leadership style—the result is so much richer and more powerful when you lead from behind and lead with strength. . Studying in tandem with working, whilst challenging, gave me the perfect platform to directly apply learning concepts into my business environment, the competitive landscape, and the real-estate industry as a whole. When I started the program, I was very happy in my corporate role. But my courage and aspirations grew to the point that I took on a whole new direction. Having my career coach, Joanna, as a sounding board allowed me to really be strategic and get to know myself. She coached me thro ugh all the interviews, the research, and the questions. It went in parallel with what I was doing academically and after six months everything just clicked. . I went into the EMBA knowing I had nothing to lose and I’ve come out with everything. Great strength, global friends, amazing learning, mentors from professors, a job I love, and the knowledge that I can set my mind to achieve anything and with the right support and resources I’ll get there.† . Kashani Wijetunga British, New Zealand Sri Lankan Associate Director Senior Strategy Consultant CBRE EMBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"It was now or never. I knew that I’d have likely stayed in my neighborhood for years to come if I didn’t take this opportunity. I’d not lived or studied outside of the U.S. before. So I left my job as a global strategist at an advertising agency and moved halfway around the world. I’ve come back a more culturally aware, well-versed person. I’ve realized that everything is a learning experience and an opportunity for growth. Ill definitely carry this mindset with me into the future. Technology and social media allow us to be different people in several places at once. Im excited to see how I can establish myself in whatever city Ill be lucky enough to call home and still maintain deep connections with people all over the world. I’m inspired by my classmates every day. Hearing some of their life stories and how getting this degree fits into their greater mission has been very humbling. My biggest challenge has been finding the ‘right’ path for me. There have been rooms Ive felt like I shouldnt be in, but now Im proud to feel as though I truly belong, wherever I am.† . Dwayne Logan, Jnr. American MBA Class of 2019 . â€Å"It was now or never. I knew that I’d have likely stayed in my neighborhood for years to come if I didn’t take this opportunity. I’d not lived or studied outside of the U.S. before. So I left my job as a global strategist at an advertising agency and moved halfway around the world. I’ve come back a more culturally aware, well-versed person. I’ve realized that everything is a learning experience and an opportunity for growth. Ill definitely carry this mindset with me into the future. Technology and social media allow us to be different people in several places at once. Im excited to see how I can establish myself in whatever city Ill be lucky enough to call home and still maintain deep connections with people all over the world. I’m inspired by my classmates every day. Hearing some of their life stories and how getting this degree fits into their greater mission has been very humbling. My biggest challenge has been finding the ‘right’ path for me. There have been rooms Ive felt like I shouldnt be in, but now Im proud to feel as though I truly belong, wherever I am.† . Dwayne Logan, Jnr. American MBA Class of 2019 . Happy New Year, Hultians! . Happy New Year, Hultians! .