Publications
Subject: Data Fusion: The Ups and Downs of All-Encompassing Digital Profiles
Mashing everyone's personal data, from credit card bills to cell phone
logs, into one all-encompassing digital dossier is the stuff of an
Orwellian nightmare. But it is not as easy as most people assume
SciAm, By Simson L. Garfinkel, Aug 2008
- The idea of linking together databases, known as data fusion, is the b�te noire of privacy advocates. So far, however, it seems to be limited to specific contexts, such as gambling casinos and child-support enforcement.
- Data fusion is challenging because databases are riddled with errors and meaningless coincidences. New algorithms overcome some of these hurdles, but do they shift the overall ratio of cost and benefit?
...
The term "data fusion" entered the technical vernacular in 1984, when researchers at Lockheed Martin�s Advanced Technology Center published two articles about a "tactical data fusion" system that would meld battlefield information from sensors, databases and other sources in real time for human analysts. Since then, the idea has blossomed. Bioinformatics investigators speak of genomic data fusion. The Department of Homeland Security has spent more than $250 million setting up some 58 state or local fusion centers. Nielsen, the consumer marketing company, has developed data-fusion products for identifying and targeting potential customers with specific characteristics, rather than wasting effort on the traditional scattershot approach to marketing.
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