Caveat emptor: the risks of using big data for human development

Big data revolution promises to be instrumental in facilitating sustainable development in many sectors of life such as education, health, agriculture, and in combating humanitarian crises and violent conflicts. However, lurking beneath the immense promises of big data are some significant risks such as (1) the potential use of big data for unethical ends; (2) its ability to mislead through reliance on unrepresentative and biased data; and (3) the various privacy and security challenges associated with data (including the danger of an adversary tampering with the data to harm people). These risks can have severe consequences and a better understanding of these risks is the first step towards mitigation of these risks. In this paper, we highlight the potential dangers associated with using big data, particularly for human development.