BIG DATA AT THE BORDER: WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?
BIG DATA AT THE BORDER: WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?

Summary/Abstract: The buzz of “Big Data” permeates society. This ‘new’ data, characterised by its volume, variety, velocity, and veracity changes the ways we live, as an increasing number of actors from a variety of sectors in public/private spheres and civilian/military contexts seek ways to operationalise data for value. This paper seeks to offer an additional viewpoint from which we can explain some of the challenges and limitations on the road to data-driven intelligence and its integration in security and intelligence organisations. The scope of this paper is refined to analysing such challenges in the context of border security, although similar challenges might and do appear in other applications and fields. An auto ethnographic approach is adopted as a way to illustrate and remind that the data we collect, process, and store is data about people, and further, how we choose to use (or not use) this data has implications for people. The bottom line of this work is that as we pave and forge towards data driven intelligence, we must acknowledge and remember that the road both starts and ends with human intelligence.

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