For our first column, I’m tackling a common question that I’m regularly asked:
Data is powerful. We know that with great power comes great responsibility. Spiderman fans will attest to this. This is especially important when it comes to data that involves people either directly or indirectly.
We can think about the power of data to determine important indonesia whatsapp number data things in our lives. For example, consider the tale of Doug Lee. He was denied boarding a flight to take his dream vacation in Ireland because his ticket said “Doug Lee” but his passport said “Douglas Lee.” Three missing letters cost him $8,000 in non-refundable fees. Doug(las) isn’t alone – there are far too many stories like this.
You might think this is just a data quality issue and on one level, that is true. His name didn’t match on the two systems. But there is a deeper level to this story. The documentation, the data, was more “real” and carried more authority than the actual physical person – Doug(las) Lee – who was standing at the gate trying to board the flight. Doug(las) Lee’s own declaration that he was indeed “Douglas Lee” – that he was the same person represented by both pieces of documentation – did not matter. The government-issued passport data was given the final decision and carried more power than the physical person. In his book, “How We Became Our Data,” philosopher Colin Koopman outlines the history of both how this happened and why. It has to do with running complex bureaucracies, and it’s a fascinating tale about the last hundred years of information processing that have led to this outcome.