Two Congressional Investigations Into Activities of Data Companies

 There are now two Congressional investigations being held regarding the activities of data gathering companies.  One investigation is targeting so called "data sellers" while the other is targeting similary termed "data brokers."   Both investigations are targeting some of the same companies. 

The "data sellers" investigation is being run by Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massashusetts, and Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas.  The investigation was prompted by this article on data gethering company Acxiom in the New York Times and targets companies such as Acxiom and Experian.

The "data brokers" investigation was opened this week by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, and targets some of the same companies as the other investigation.

You can read more about the investigations at the links below:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/technology/senator-opens-investigation-of-data-brokers.html?smid=pl-share

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/technology/congress-opens-inquiry-into-data-brokers.html?_r=1

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=a42a865a-be30-4171-8278-86ee0a8c76fb

David Weinberger Big Data excerpt in The Atlantic

David Weinberger, a Senior Researcher at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for the Internet and Society, has authored a new book titled "Too Big To Know." The book is concerned with how the size of data affects the way in which we use it to forge new understanding.

The Atlantic has published an excerpt here:

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/to-know-but-not-understand-david-weinberger-on-science-and-big-data/250820/

Nice overview of big data, with pretty picture

In an article this week on ZDNet.com, Dion Hinchcliffe provides a nice overview of Big Data. There's also a nice graphic included with the article, which gives a pretty good visual breakdown of where all the pieces you've heard about (Hadoop, etc) fit in.

Here's the link:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hinchcliffe/the-enterprise-opportunity-of-big-data-closing-the-clue-gap/1648