HYDERABAD: Amid a growing need to possess data which opens limitless possibilities through disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies —machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) —in terms of achieving solutions, researchers raise a concern about concentration of data.
Major companies, which are the first to adopt AI, are considered to be in an advantageous position due to its proprietary data unlike researchers or startups who mostly rely on few repositories to obtain data sets. This information is recorded by e-commerce websites, government agencies or health organisations on aspects relating to software run by them. These can be health records, demographic patterns and the like. Technically, these are referred to as data sets which are used for research in disruptive technologies. “There can be a concentration of power when only a few people are able to solve problems through artificial intelligence or machine learning,” cautions Victor Bahl, director (mobile & networking research), Microsoft Research.
“An e-commerce giant, for example, will have information of people whenever they create an account and look for certain products. Such information is kept by themselves which is not even sold and the scarcity of data sets increases, especially, in the field of medical research because of it,’’ says Bhaskar Dhariyal, an M.Tech researcher at the University of Hyderabad. His source for obtaining data sets is mostly through UC Irvine machine learning repository which gives only limited options to access free data sets.
The Data Security Council of India (DSCI), the industry body for protection of data in India, points out that a system should be in place to maintain a repository to complement the mathematical ability that is found in the country. “Enabling access to data is a critical and crucial path,” says Vinayak Godse, senior director (data protection) of DSCI, adding that data can be in major logs and forms with several institutions including government organisations. “The world technology leaders are empowered with their product footprint across the world. It might not be content data but metadata is available to them,” he remarks. “The key is not to target larger companies which are generating data but to create a product economy by Indian companies so that data also comes to us from across the world either in the form of cloud or product services,” Godse observes. Victor Bahl wants the government to step in to frame regulations on democratising data. However, considering the nascency of the technology and a healthy competition that exists, the intervention can wait, he notes.
Data Privacy Day observed on Jan 28
January 28 is observed as Data Privacy Day across the world including in India. The objective is to create awareness among stakeholders —consumers and businesses —to protect the privacy of data and to boost compliance with privacy laws.