Good Data by Sam Gilbert

 

Book - Good Data by Sam Gilbert

Good Data by Sam Gilbert: Book Review

“Good Data” by Sam Gilbert is undoubtedly a unique take on the generally conceived doubts over the commercial usage of data for the overall good of the users and population in general. The core idea which the author attempts to defend is that sharing, collecting and categorization of data both, profile based and behavioural based, over various platform points and various agencies can actually end up doing good to the population in general. The author does agree with the risks and dangers associated with this practice, but concludes through research and study that the positive points outdo the negative ones.

The book is divided into four parts with four P’s associated with data namely; Paranoia, Prosperity, Power and Proposals. Each parts touch upon a particular global notion and tries to dissect it into the positives and negatives.

In the introduction portion, the author through his own personal experience, tries bring out to the readers about the concept of profile data and behavioural data. This explanation is provided from the point of view of social media websites collecting the data from its users. In this section, the author also gives a glimpse of the aspect that he would be concentrating in the first two sections – social media targeted advertisement and its pros and cons.

In the first part- Paranoia- which concentrates on the data collection and data usage practices of social media companies for advertisement targeting - the readers come across challenging arguments by the author against some of the pre-conceived and now popular global notions about “Data”. The readers get to understand from the point of view of the author the following aspects:

• Data is not the new oil as popularly conceived – This is showcased by the author by making a point- by- point comparison on the key characteristics of data and oil. The readers will also get to understand the author’s contention to refer to “Data” as the new “Manure” and not “Oil”.
• The positives of social media advertisements- This is showcased by the author through his personal experience during his start up years and how using social media ads had added to positive assistance to good count of users.
• The rights and wrongs of micro targeting – This point is explained by taking into consideration the adverse effects that data usage can lead to when the data ethics concept is not followed. The readers will get an understanding as to how certain data analytics tool were used in certain sections of the world both positively and adversely, without the consent of the user.
• You are not the product – Here the author explains through point -by- point comparison in between a commercial product and an average internet user who uses an app or website for free. The arguments will be enjoyed by the readers as they are logical and a little bit technical.

This section will also take the reader to the author’s personal experience on data and commercial usage with respect to certain social media companies while he was working with a start-up company. This will be an engaging section to read as a whole lot of readers will actually understand the overall behind the scene working of the data collection and data usage by the social media companies. Certain key terms like lookalike audiences and Graph API linked to data collection and data usage is explained reasonably well for the understanding of a normal layman reader.

In the second part – Prosperity – that primarily concentrates on “Search engine data”- readers get an in depth understanding and arguments from the author’s point of view about positives and negatives of using search engine data for the valuable help of the population at large. The author explains his case through some interesting case studies which bring out the impact that data availability and data usage can bring about to businesses and also its customers.

This section has an insightful take of the author on the impact of data openness on companies and customers and society at large. Through examples from various corporates and companies and also based on his personal experience of data availability and data usage during the Coronavirus pandemic, this section gives an interesting take on how data openness can help the population at large.

In the third part – Power- the author tries to fight off a popular concept that social media websites and search engine websites are equivalent to that of a Panopticon. The author presents logical arguments when presenting his comparison that will help the reader to understand the basic flaws in this conspiracy logic. The readers will also get an educative take on the concepts of market power and reach power with respect to the social media companies and search engine websites. For normal technical readers, these are educative insights that helps them to shrug off a lot of misinformation about data, internet and digital commerce

In this section of “power” – the author presents a unique take on the concept of hubris of tech CEOs. This is a must- read portion to understand the reasons of influence and action calls of all the tech CEOs of the world. Reading this section will give an initial understanding of the psychological reasons behind the so called over ambitious plans of most of the current tech CEOs.

In the last section – Proposal – the author concentrates on the concept of data legitimacy and data ethics. Here the readers will come across some interesting concepts on input legitimacy and output legitimacy with respect to companies, associations and governments. The author tries to link these concepts to the data using companies and showcases if these result in having input legitimacy and output legitimacy. Arguments on the following aspects are presented by the author in this section-

• The legality of digital advertising -based business models.
• Enhanced privacy for internet users.
• Social Media companies to be regulated as publishers rather than platforms.
• Disaggregation or breaking up big tech companies.
• Reformation of dual class stock structure.
• Allowing big tech companies to control internet infrastructure.

These are discussions currently taking place all over the world. However, this book was published in 2021 and perhaps even written before 2020. The foresight of the discussions in this book is commendable and insightful for reader to go through at least once.

The book is suitable for readers who are looking forward to understand how do social media companies and search engine work with respect to data collection, usage, storage and transfer. This book presents arguments on both the sides of the coin and presents a picture that will make the users think and introspect. There are also other aspects of the tech companies that the author has touched upon which will interest certain section of the readers.

However, there are some portions in the second half of the book, though they are informational and educative, may not make a connection with the topic and purpose of the book. These portions are no doubt insightful but does not connect with the overall topic of the book.

The language is easy to read in majority of the book and the flow and chronology of the topics have been maintained. What also makes this book interesting to read is the description of the author’s personal experience in many of the chapters and sections.

On an overall basis, this is an insightful book to read with patience and introspection that can help users to rethink their doubts on privacy, data sharing and data openness.