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Frontiers in Data Science
 Chapman & Hall/CRC
Big Data Series

SERIES EDITOR
Sanjay Ranka

AIMS AND SCOPE

This series aims to present new research and applications in Big Data, along with the computa-
tional tools and techniques currently in development. The inclusion of concrete examples and
applications is highly encouraged. The scope of the series includes, but is not limited to, titles in the
areas of social networks, sensor networks, data-centric computing, astronomy, genomics, medical
data analytics, large-scale e-commerce, and other relevant topics that may be proposed by poten-
tial contributors.

PUBLISHED TITLES
FRONTIERS IN DATA SCIENCE
Matthias Dehmer and Frank Emmert-Streib
BIG DATA OF COMPLEX NETWORKS
Matthias Dehmer, Frank Emmert-Streib, Stefan Pickl, and Andreas Holzinger
BIG DATA COMPUTING: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY
MANAGERS
Vivek Kale
BIG DATA : ALGORITHMS, ANALYTICS, AND APPLICATIONS
Kuan-Ching Li, Hai Jiang, Laurence T. Yang, and Alfredo Cuzzocrea
BIG DATA MANAGEMENT AND PROCESSING
Kuan-Ching Li, Hai Jiang, and Albert Y. Zomaya
BIG DATA ANALYTICS: TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR EFFECTIVE
PLANNING
Arun K. Somani and Ganesh Chandra Deka
BIG DATA IN COMPLEX AND SOCIAL NETWORKS
My T. Thai, Weili Wu, and Hui Xiong
HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING FOR BIG DATA
Chao Wang
NETWORKING FOR BIG DATA
Shui Yu, Xiaodong Lin, Jelena Mišić, and Xuemin (Sherman) Shen
Frontiers in Data Science

Edited by
Matthias Dehmer
Frank Emmert-Streib
CRC Press
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Contents

About the Editors vii

Contributors ix

1 Legal aspects of information science, data science,

and Big Data 1
Alessandro Mantelero and Giuseppe Vaciago
2 Legal and policy aspects of information science in
emerging automated environments 47
Stefan A. Kaiser
3 Privacy as secondary rule, or the intrinsic limits of legal
orders in the age of Big Data 69
Bart van der Sloot
4 Data ownership: Taking stock and mapping the issues 111
Florent Thouvenin, Rolf H. Weber, and Alfred Früh
5 Philosophical and methodological foundations of text
data analytics 147
Beth-Anne Schuelke-Leech and Betsy Barry
6 Mobile commerce and the consumer information
paradox: A review of practice, theory, and a research
agenda 171
Matthew S. Eastin and Nancy H. Brinson
7 The impact of Big Data on making evidence-based
decisions 191
Rodica Neamtu, Caitlin Kuhlman, Ramoza Ahsan, and
Elke Rundensteiner
8 Automated business analytics for artificial intelligence in
Big Data@X 4.0 era 223
Yi-Ting Chen and Edward W. Sun

v
vi Contents

9 The evolution of recommender systems: From the

beginning to the Big Data era 253
Beatrice Paoli, Monika Laner, Beat Tödtli, and Jouri Semenov
10 Preprocessing in Big Data: New challenges for
discretization and feature selection 285
Verónica Bolón-Canedo, Noelia Sánchez-Maroño, and
Amparo Alonso-Betanzos
11 Causation, probability, and all that: Data science as a
novel inductive paradigm 329
Wolfgang Pietsch
12 Big Data in healthcare in China: Applications, obstacles,
and suggestions 355
Zhong Wang and Xiaohua Wang

Index 371
About the Editors

Matthias Dehmer studied mathematics at the University of Siegen, Siegen,

Germany and earned his PhD in computer science from the Technical
University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany. Afterward, he was a research
fellow at Vienna Bio Center, Austria, Vienna University of Technology, and
University of Coimbra, Portugal. He obtained his habilitation in applied
discrete mathematics from the Vienna University of Technology. Currently, he
is a professor at UMIT—The Health and Life Sciences University, Austria. His
research interests are in data science, Big Data, complex networks, machine
learning, and information theory. He has published more than 220 publi-
cations in applied mathematics, computer science, data science, and related
disciplines.

Frank Emmert-Streib studied physics at the University of Siegen, Germany,

and earned his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Bremen,
Bremen, Germany. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the United States before
becoming a faculty member at the Center for Cancer Research at the Queen’s
University Belfast, UK. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of
Signal Processing at Tampere University of Technology, Finland. His research
interests are in the field of computational biology, data science and analytics
in the development and application of methods from statistics, and machine
learning for the analysis of Big Data from genomics, finance, and business.

vii
Contributors

Ramoza Ahsan Caitlin Kuhlman

Worcester Polytechnic University Worcester Polytechnic University
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester, Massachusetts
Betsy Barry
Emory University Monika Laner
Atlanta, Georgia Fernfachhochschule Schweiz
Brig, Switzerland
Amparo Alonso-Betanzos
Universidade da Coruña Alessandro Mantelero
A Coruña, Spain Polytechnic University of Turin
Nancy H. Brinson Turin, Italy
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas Noelia Sánchez-Maroño
Universidade da Coruña
Verónica Bolón-Canedo A Coruña, Spain
Universidade da Coruña
A Coruña, Spain
Rodica Neamtu
Yi-Ting Chen Worcester Polytechnic University
National Chiao Tung University Worcester, Massachusetts
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Beatrice Paoli
Matthew S. Eastin Fernfachhochschule Schweiz
University of Texas at Austin Brig, Switzerland
Austin, Texas
Wolfgang Pietsch
Alfred Früh
Universität Zürich Technische Universität München
Zürich, Switzerland Munich, Germany

Stefan A. Kaiser Elke Rundensteiner

Independent Researcher Worcester Polytechnic University
Wassenberg, Germany Worcester, Massachusetts

ix
x Contributors

Beth-Anne Schuelke-Leech Giuseppe Vaciago

University of Windsor University of Insubria
Windsor, Ontario, Canada Varese, Italy

Jouri Semenov Bart van der Sloot

Fernfachhochschule Schweiz Tilburg University
Brig, Switzerland Tilburg, the Netherlands

Edward W. Sun Zhong Wang

KEDGE Business School Beijing Academy of Social Sciences
Talence, France Beijing, China

Florent Thouvenin Xiaohua Wang

Universität Zürich Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zürich, Switzerland Beijing, China

Beat Tödtli Rolf H. Weber

Fernfachhochschule Schweiz Universität Zürich
Brig, Switzerland Zürich, Switzerland
Chapter 1
Legal aspects of information science,
data science, and Big Data∗

Alessandro Mantelero

Giuseppe Vaciago

Introduction: The legal challenges of the use of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Data collection and data processing: The fundamentals of data
protection regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The European Union model: From the Data Protection Directive to
the General Data Protection Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Use of data and risk-analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Use of data for decision-making purposes: From individual to collective
dimension of data processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Data-centered approach and socio-ethical impacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Multiple-risk assessment and collective interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The guidelines adopted by the Council of Europe on the protection
of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data in a
world of Big Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Data prediction: Social control and social surveillance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Use of data during the investigation: Reasonable doubt versus
reasonable suspicion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Big Data and social surveillance: Public and private interplay in
social control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The EU reform on data protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

∗ Alessandro Mantelero, Polytechnic University of Turin, is the author of sections

“Introduction: The legal challenges of the use of data” and “Use of data for decision-making
purposes: From individual to collective dimension of data processing.” Giuseppe Vaciago,
University of Insubria, is the author of section “Data prediction: Social control and social
surveillance.”

1
2 Frontiers in Data Science

Introduction: The legal challenges of the use of data

There are many definitions of Big Data, which differ depending on the
specific discipline. Most of the definitions focus on the growing technological
ability to collect, process, and extract new and predictive knowledge from a
bulk of data characterized by a great volume, velocity, and variety.∗
However, in terms of protection of individual rights, the main issues do
not only concern the volume, velocity, and variety of processed data, but also
the analysis of data, using software to extract new and predictive knowledge
for decision-making purposes. Therefore, in this contribution, the definition
of Big Data encompasses both Big Data and Big Data analytics.†
The advent of Big Data has suggested a new paradigm in social empiri-
cal studies, in which the traditional approach adopted in statistical studies is
complemented or replaced by Big Data analysis. This new paradigm is char-
acterized by the relevant role played by data visualization, which makes it
possible the analysis of real-time data streams to get their trajectory and
predict future trends possible [3]. Moreover, large amounts of data make it
possible to use unsupervised machine-learning algorithms to discover hidden
correlations between variables that characterize large datasets.
This kind of approach, which is based on the emerging correlations among
data, leads social investigation to adopt a new strategy, in which there are
no preexisting research hypotheses to be verified through empirical statisti-
cal studies. Big Data analytics suggest possible correlations, which constitute
per se the research hypothesis: data show the potential relations between facts
or behavior. Nevertheless, these relations are not grounded on causation and,
for this reason, should be further investigated using the traditional statistical
method.
Assuming that data trends suggest correlations and consequent research
hypotheses, at the moment of data collection only very general research
hypotheses are possible, as the potential data patterns are still unknown.
Therefore, the specific purpose of data processing can be identified only at
a later time, when correlations reveal the usefulness of some information to
detect specific aspects. Only at that time, the given purpose of the use of
information becomes evident, also with regard to further analyses conducted
with traditional statistical methods [4].

∗ The term “Big Data” usually identifies extremely large datasets that may be analyzed

computationally to extract inferences about data patterns, trends, and correlations. Accord-
ing to the International Telecommunication Union, Big Data are “a paradigm for enabling
the collection, storage, management, analysis, and visualization, potentially under real-time
constraints, of extensive datasets with heterogeneous characteristics” [1].
† This term is used to identify computational technologies that analyze large amounts of

data to uncover hidden patterns, trends, and correlations. According to the European Union
Agency for Network and Information Security, the term Big Data analytics “refers to the
whole data management lifecycle of collecting, organizing, and analysing data to discover
patterns, to infer situations or states, to predict and to understand behaviors” [2].
 Legal aspects of information science, data science, and Big Data 3

On the other hand, there are algorithms, such as supervised machine-

learning algorithms, that need a preliminary training phase. In this stage, a
supervisor uses data training sets to correct the errors of the machine, orienting
the algorithm toward correct associations. In this sense, supervised machine-
learning algorithms require a prior definition of the purpose of the use of
data, identifying the goal that the machine should reach through autonomous
processing of all available data.
In this case, although the purpose of data use is defined in the training
phase, the manner in which data are processed and the final outcome of data
mining remain largely unknown. In fact, these algorithms are black boxes and
their internal dynamics are partially unpredictable.∗
Both data visualization and machine-learning applications pose relevant
questions in terms of Big Data processing, which will be addressed in the
following sections. How is it possible to define the specific purpose of data
processing at the moment of data collection, when the correlations suggested
by analytics are unknown at that time? If different sources of data are used
in machine training and running learning algorithms, how can data subjects
know the specific purpose of the use of their information in given machine-
learning applications?
These questions clearly show the tension that characterizes the application
of the traditional data protection principles in the Big Data context. But this
is not the only crucial aspect: the very notion of personal data is becoming
more undefined. Running Big Data analytics over large datasets could make
it difficult to distinguish between personal data and anonymous data, as well
as between sensitive data and nonsensitive data.
Various studies have demonstrated how information stored in anonymized
datasets can be partially reidentified, in some cases without expensive tech-
nical solutions [5–12]. This suggests going beyond the traditional dichotomy
between personal and anonymous data and representing this distinction as
a scale that moves from personal identified information to aggregated data.
Between these extremes, the level of anonymization is proportional to the
effort, in terms of time, resources and costs, which is required to reidentify
information.
Finally, with regard to sensitive data, Big Data analytics make it possi-
ble to use nonsensitive data to infer sensitive information, such as informa-
tion concerning religious practices extracted from location data and mobility
patterns [13].
Against this background, the existing data protection regulations and the
ongoing proposals [14,15] remain largely focused on the traditional main pil-
lars of the so-called fourth generation of data protection laws [16]: the notice

∗ See, e.g., Zhang M., “Google Photos Tags Two African-Americans As Gorillas

Through Facial Recognition Software,” Forbes, July 1, 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/

mzhang / 2015 / 07 / 01 / google-photos-tags-two-african-americans-as-gorillas-through-facial-
recognition-software/#36b529227b63 (accessed March 23, 2016).
4 Frontiers in Data Science

and consent model (i.e., an informed, freely given, and specific consent)
[17–21],∗ the purpose limitation principle [24,25], and the minimization
principle.
For this reason, the following sections investigate the limits and criticisms
of the existing legal framework and the possible options to provide adequate
answers to the new challenges of Big Data processing. In this light, this chapter
is divided into three main sections.
The first section focuses on the traditional paradigm of data protection
and on the provisions, primarily in the new EU General Data Protection
Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, hereafter GDPR), that can be used
to safeguard individual rights in Big Data processing.
The second section goes beyond the existing legal framework and, in the
light of the path opened by the guidelines on Big Data adopted by the Coun-
cil of Europe, suggests a broader approach that encompasses the collective
dimension of data protection. This dimension often characterizes Big Data
applications and leads to assess the ethical and social impacts of data uses,
which assume an important role in many Big Data contexts.
The last section deals with the use of Big Data to anticipate fraud detection
and to prevent crime. In this light, the new Directive (EU) 2016/680† is briefly
analyzed.

Data collection and data processing: The fundamentals of data

protection regulations
Before considering the different reasons that induce the law to protect
personal information, it should be noted that European legal systems do not
recognize the same broad notion of the right to privacy that exists in U.S.
jurisprudence.‡ At the same time, in the European countries, data protection
laws do not draw their origins from the European idea of privacy and its
related case law.

∗ See Articles 6 and 7, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of April 27, 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing
of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC
(General Data Protection Regulation). Differently, in the United States, the traditional
approach based on various sectorial regulations has underestimated the role played by user’s
choice, adopting a market-oriented strategy. Nevertheless, the guidelines adopted by the
U.S. administrations in 2012 [14] seem to suggest a different approach, reinforcing self-
determination [8,22,23].
† Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the

processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention,
investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penal-
ties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision
2008/977/JHA.
‡ With regard to the notion of right to privacy (and in brief), in the United States the

right to privacy covers a broad area that goes from informational privacy to the right of
self-determination in private life decisions. On the other hand, in European countries, this
right mainly focuses on the first aspect and is related to media activities [26–31].
 Legal aspects of information science, data science, and Big Data 5

European data protection regulations, since their origins in the second

half of the last century, focused on information regarding individuals, without
distinguishing between public or private information [32]. Compared with the
right to privacy, the issues regarding the protection of personal data have been
more recently recognized by law, both in the United States and Europe [33].
This dates from the 1960s, whereas the primitive era of the right to privacy
was at the end of the nineteenth century, when the penny press assumed
a significant role in limiting the privacy of the people belonging to upper
classes [34].
In the light of the above, the analysis of the fundamentals of data process-
ing should start from the effects of the computer revolution that happened in
the late 1950s. The advent of computers and its social impact led to the first
regulations on data protection and posed the first pillars of the architecture
of the present legal framework.
The first generations of data protection regulations were characterized by a
national approach. They were adopted in different times by national legislators
and were different with regard to the extension of the safeguards provided and
the remedies offered.
The notion of data protection was originally based on the idea of control
over information, as confirmed by the literature of that period [35–37]. The
migration from dusty paper archives to computer memories was a Coperni-
can revolution which, for the first time in history, permitted the aggregation
of information about every citizen that was previously spread over different
archives [38].
The first data protection regulations were the answer to the rising concern
of citizens about social control, as the new big mainframe computers gave
governments [16,38–41] and large corporations the opportunity to collect and
manage large amount of personal information [16,42]. In this sense, the legal
systems gave individuals the opportunity to have a sort of countercontrol over
the collected data [16,38,43].
The purpose of the regulations was not to spread and democratize power
over information but to increase the level of transparency about data pro-
cessing and safeguard the right to access to information. Citizens felt they
were monitored, and the law gave them the opportunity to know who con-
trolled their data, which kind of information was collected, and for which
purposes.
The mandatory notifications of new databases, registration, licensing pro-
cedures, and independent authorities [16,44] were the fundamental elements
of these new regulations. They were necessary to know who had control over
information and to monitor data processing. Another key component was the
right to access, which allows citizens to ask data owners about the way in
which information is used and, consequently, about the exercise of their power
over information. Finally, the entire picture was completed by the creation of
ad hoc public authorities to safeguard and enforce citizen’s rights, exercise
control over data owners, and react against abuses.
6 Frontiers in Data Science

In this model, there was no space for individual consent, due to the eco-
nomic context of that period. The collection of information was mainly made
by public entities for purposes related to public interests, was mandatory,
and there was no space of autonomy in terms of negotiation about personal
information. At the same time, personal information did not have an eco-
nomic value for private companies: data about clients and suppliers were
mainly used for operational functions regarding the execution of company
activities.
Another element that contributed to exclude the role of self-determination
was the lack of knowledge, the extreme difficulty for ordinary people to under-
stand the use, and the mode of operation of mainframes. The computer main-
frames were a sort of modern God, with sacral attendants, a selected number
of technicians who were able to use this new equipment. In this scenario, it
did not make sense to give citizens the chance to choose, as they were unable
to understand the way in which their data were processed.
In conclusion, during the 1970s and the first part of the 1980s of the
last century, legislators laid the foundations for data protection regulations in
many European countries and outside Europe, as a result of the technological
and social changes of that period. These first regulations defined the initial
core of data protection (i.e., transparency, rights to access, and data protection
authorities), which is still present in the existing legal framework.

The European Union model: From the Data Protection

Directive to the General Data Protection Regulation
The period from the mid-1980s to the 1990s was characterized not only by
the rising of a uniform approach to data protection regulation among the mem-
bers of the European Union, but also by a change in the regulatory paradigm,
due to the new technological, social, and economic scenarios.
Home computers entered the market in the late 1970s to become common
during the 1980s. This was the new era of distributed computers, in which a
lot of people bought a personal computer to collect and process information.
The big mainframe computers became the small desktop personal com-
puters, with a relatively low cost. Consequently, the computational capacity
was no longer an exclusive privilege of governments and big companies but
became accessible to many entities and consumers.
This period witnessed another transformation involving direct marketing,
which was no longer based on the concept of mail order and moved toward
computerized direct marketing solutions.∗ The new forms of marketing were
based on customer profiling and required extensive data collection to apply
∗ Although direct marketing has its roots in mail order services, which were based on

personalized letter (e.g., using the name and surname of addressees) and general group
profiling (e.g., using census information to group addressees in social and economic classes),
the use of computer equipment increased the level of manipulation of consumer information
and generated detailed consumer’s profiles [45,46].
 Legal aspects of information science, data science, and Big Data 7

data mining software. The main purpose of profiling was to suggest a suitable
commercial proposal to any consumer.
This was an innovative application of data processing driven by new pur-
poses. Information was no longer collected to support supply chains, logistics,
and orders, but to sell the best product to each user. As a result, the data
subject became the focus of the process, and personal information acquired
an economic and business value, given its role in sales.
These changes in the technological and business frameworks created new
requests from society to legislators, as citizens wanted to have the chance to
negotiate their personal data and gain something in return.
Although the new generations of the European data protection laws placed
personal information within the context of fundamental rights,∗ the main goal
of these regulations was to pursue economic interests related to the free flow
of personal data. This is also affirmed by the Directive 95/46/EC,† which
represents both the general framework and the synthesis of this second wave
of data protection laws.‡
However, the roots of data protection remained in the context of person-
ality rights. Therefore, the European approach is less market-oriented than it
happens in other legal systems. The directive also recognizes the fundamental
role of public authorities in protecting data subjects against unwilled or unfair
exploitation of their personal information for marketing purposes.
Both the theoretical model of fundamental rights, based on self-
determination, and the rising data-driven economy highlighted the importance
of user consent in consumer data processing. Consent does not only represent
an expression of choice with regard to the use of personality rights by third
parties but is also an instrument to negotiate the economic value of personal
information.
In this new data-driven economy, personal data cannot be exploited for
business purposes without any involvement of data subjects. It is necessary
that individuals become part of the negotiation, as data are no longer used
mainly by government agencies for public purposes but also by private com-
panies with monetary revenues [49,50].
∗ See Council of Europe, Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard

to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, opened for signature on January 28, 1981
and entered into force on October 1, 1985. http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/
QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=108&CL=ENG (accessed February 27, 2014); OECD, Annex
to the Recommendation of the Council of 23rd September 1980: Guidelines on the Pro-
tection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. http://www.oecd.org/internet/
ieconomy/oecdguidelinesontheprotectionofprivacyandtransborderflowsofpersonaldata.htm#
preface (accessed February 27, 2014).
† Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995

on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the
free movement of such data [1995] OJ L281/31.
‡ The EU Directive 95/46/EC has a dual nature, as it was written on the basis of the

existing national data protection laws, in order to harmonize them, but at the same time it
also provided a new set of rules. See the recitals in the preamble to the Directive 95/46/EC
[47,48].
8 Frontiers in Data Science

Effective self-determination in data processing, both in terms of protec-

tion and economic exploitation of personality rights, cannot be obtained
without adequate and prior notice.∗ For this reason, the notice and consent
model† added a new layer to the existing paradigm based on transparency and
access [17].
Finally, it is important to highlight that, during the 1980s and 1990s, data
analysis increased in quality, but its level of complexity was still limited. Con-
sequently, consumers were able to understand the general correlation between
data collection and related purposes of data processing (e.g., profiling users,
offering customized services, or goods). At that time, informed consent and
self-determination were largely considered as synonyms, but this is changed
now, in the Big Data era.
The advent of Big Data analytics has created a different economic and
technological scenario, with direct consequences on the adequacy of the legal
framework adopted to safeguard personal information. The new environment
is mainly digital and characterized by an increasing concentration of informa-
tion in the hands of a few entities, both public and private.
The role played by specific subjects in the generation of data flows is the
main reason for this concentration. Governments and big private companies
(e.g., large retailers, telecommunication companies) collect huge amounts of
data while performing their daily activities. This bulk of information repre-
sents a strategic and economically relevant asset, as the management of large
databases enables these entities to assume the role of gatekeepers with regard
to the information that can be extracted from the datasets. They are able to
keep information completely closed or to limit access to the data, perhaps
to specific subjects only or with regard to circumscribed parts of the entire
collection.
Not only governments and big private companies acquire this power but
also the intermediaries in information flows (e.g., search engines, Internet
providers, data brokers, and marketing companies), which do not generate
information but play a key role in circulating it.
There are also different cases in which information is accessible to the pub-
lic, both in raw and processed form (e.g., open datasets, online user-generated
contents). This only apparently diminishes the concentration of power over
information, as access to information is not equivalent to knowledge [51].
A large amount of data create knowledge if the data holders have the
adequate interpretation tools to select relevant information, to reorganize it,
to place the data in a systematic context, and if there are people with the
required skills to define the design of the research and give an interpretation to
the results generated by Big Data analytics [3,15,52,53]. Without these skills,
data only produce confusion and less knowledge in the end, with information
interpreted in an incomplete or biased way. For these reasons, the availability
∗ The notice describes how the data are processed and the detailed purposes of data

processing.
† See Articles 2(h), 7(a) and 10, Directive 95/46/EC.
 Legal aspects of information science, data science, and Big Data 9

of data is not sufficient in the Big Data context [54,55]. It is also necessary to
have the adequate human and computing resources to manage it.
In this scenario, control over information does not only regard limited
access data, but can also concern open data [56,57], over which the infor-
mation intermediaries create an added value by means of their instruments
of analysis. Given that only few entities are able to invest heavily in equip-
ment and research, the dynamics described earlier enhance the concentra-
tion of power over information, which increases due to the new expansion of
Big Data.
Under many aspects, this new environment resembles the origins of data
processing, when, in the mainframe era, technologies were held by a few
entities and data processing was too complex to be understood by data sub-
jects. Nevertheless, there are important differences that may affect the possi-
ble evolution of this situation, in terms of a diffused and democratic access to
information.
The new data gatherers do not base their position only on expensive hard-
ware and software, which may become cheaper in the future, or is based on the
growing number of experts able to give an interpretation to the results of data
analytics. The fundamental element of this power is represented by the large
databases they have. These data silos, which are considered the goldmine of
the twenty-first century, do not have free access, as they represent the main
or the side effect of the activities conducted by their owners, due to the role
that they play in creating, collecting, or managing information.
For this reason, in the Big Data context, it seems quite difficult to imagine
the same process of democratization that happened with regard to computer
equipment during the 1980s [58]. The access to large databases is not only
protected by legal rights, but it is also strictly related to the peculiar positions
held by data holders in their market and to the presence of entry barriers.
Another aspect that characterizes this new form of concentration of con-
trol over information is the nature of the purposes of data collection: data
processing is no longer focused on single users (profiling), but it increased by
scale and it is trying to investigate attitudes and behaviors of large groups and
communities, up to entire countries. The consequence of this large-scale ap-
proach is the return of the fears about social surveillance, which characterized
the mainframe era.
Against this background, the GDPR does not change the main pillars
of the previous regulatory model. Therefore, personal data are still primar-
ily protected by individual rights; the notice and consent model remains an
important legal ground for data processing, and the principles of purpose lim-
itation and data minimization are reaffirmed.
Despite this traditional approach, which seems to be partially inade-
quate in the Big Data context, the GDPR shows a partial shift of the
regulatory focus from data subject’s self-determination to accountability of
the controller and persons involved in data processing. In this sense, ac-
countability represents the core of the new EU data protection framework
10 Frontiers in Data Science

and an important element to tackle the potential negative impacts of the

use of data analytics [59].
More specifically, accountability is based on the data protection impact
assessment, the role played by data protection officers and, when required by
law, the prior assessment process conducted by data protection authorities. In
this sense, compared with the previous Data Protection Directive, the GDPR
undoubtedly moves toward a risk-based approach.
Nevertheless, this transition is still incomplete. Elements of the previous
model focused on data subjects that coexist with the new approach, but with-
out a complete redraft of the architecture defined in the 1990s, it seems to be
difficult to address the social and technological challenges of Big Data.

Use of data and risk-analysis

Regarding risk management in data processing, it is worth pointing out
that risk can be considered, in a broad sense, as any negative consequence
that can occur when personal data are processed, regardless of the fact that
these consequences might produce damage or prejudice to individual rights
and freedoms.
In this sense, data subjects that use social networks expose themselves to
the risk of being profiled [60], of having their information shared with third
parties, of being tracked for commercial purposes, and so on. None of these
consequences are against the law, as those are detailed in terms and conditions
and privacy policies by service providers and accepted by users, on the basis
of the notice and consent model.
In these cases, it seems that there is no relevant risk for the safeguard
of data subjects’ rights, as individuals can assess the consequences of data
processing and have freely expressed their consent. Nevertheless, legal and
sociological studies have clearly demonstrated that users are usually unaware
of the consequences of providing their consent, as they do not read long and
technical notices or are not able to completely understand these descriptions
and imagine their practical consequences [61–65]. Moreover, in many cases,
power imbalance and social lock-in drastically reduce any effective freedom
of choice.
As a consequence of these constraints, users frequently accept some forms
of data processing without any prior risk/benefit analysis and are unaware of
the consequences. This shows the limits of the traditional notice and choice
paradigm [66,67], which are more evident in the context of Big Data analytics,
in which it is difficult to describe the “specific” purposes of data processing
[Article 6(1)(a) GDPR] at the moment of data collection, due to the transfor-
mative use of data made by data controllers [68].∗
∗ In this light, it is also difficult to comply with the provisions of Article 4 of the GDPR,

which qualifies data subject’s consent as “freely given, specific and informed.” According to
the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, “to be specific, consent must be intelligible: it
should refer clearly and precisely to the scope and the consequences of data processing” [17].
 Legal aspects of information science, data science, and Big Data 11

In this sense, with respect to the broad notion of risk-concerning data pro-
cessing, the GDPR maintains the important roles played by self-determination
of data subjects and transparency, recognized by law in the last decades.
The European legislator seems to be unaware of the weaknesses of this
approach, where the formal transparency of terms and conditions com-
bined with users’ behavior [61] provide data controllers with the notice and
consent model, an easy way to lawfully exploit personal data in an extensive
manner.
On the other hand, a narrower notion of risk can be adopted, which focuses
on “material or nonmaterial damages” that prejudice the “rights and freedom
of natural persons.” This notion has been adopted in the GDPR to define the
risk-based approach (Recital 75 GDPR). According to the regulation, when a
risk of prejudice exists and cannot be mitigated or excluded, data processing
becomes unlawful, despite the presence of any legitimate grounds, such as the
data subject’s consent.
Recital n. 75 of the GDPR provides a long list of cases in which data pro-
cessing is considered unlawful. Moreover, this recital does not limit these hypo-
theses to the security of data processing but also takes into account the risk
of discrimination and “any other significant economic or social disadvantage.”
This notion of risk impact, which is echoed in the Article 35 of the GDPR,
represents an important step in the direction of an impact assessment of data
processing [69] that is no longer primarily focused on data security (see Article
32 GDPR) and evolves toward a more robust and broader Privacy, Ethical, and
Social Impact Assessment (PESIA).∗ Moreover, the attention to the economic
and social implications of data uses assumes relevance in the Big Data con-
text, in which analytics are used in decision-making processes and may have
negative impacts that affect individuals in terms of discrimination rather than
in terms of data security.†
In line with the risk-based approach, the new provisions of the GDPR
reinforce the accountability of data controllers that, according to Article 24, are
liable when they do not “implement appropriate technical and organizational
measures” to tackle the risks mentioned in the regulation (see also
Article 83(4) GDPR). These measures should be implemented from the
earliest stage of data processing design, embedding them in the processing,
according to the data protection by design approach (Article 25 GDPR).
In the light of the above, regarding transparency, rights to access, and data
protection authorities, which are the founding pillars of data protection regula-
tion, and the further element of the data subject’s consent, the new regulation

∗ See sections “Multiple-risk assessment and collective interests” and “The guidelines

adopted by the Council of Europe on the protection of individuals with regard to the
processing of personal data in a world of Big Data.” Regarding the PESIA model, see also
the H2020 project “VIRT-EU: Values and ethics in Innovation for Responsible Technology
in Europe.” http://www.virteuproject.eu/ (accessed December 21, 2016).
† See section “Data-centered approach and socio-ethical impacts.”
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