In January, President Obama called on senior government
officials to lead a review of the implications of Big Data for
privacy, the economy and public policy. A Federal Register Notice by the White
House's Science and Technology Policy Office sought comments
from industry participants on a variety of issues related to Big
Data. Earlier this week, the ANA submitted its comments in response
to the Notice, focusing on the public policy implications of the
collection, storage, analysis, and use of Big Data. In determining
what the potential concerns of Big Data are, the ANA said that the
focus should be on the sensitivity and potential vulnerability to
harm of the data, not the amount of data in and of itself. As an
example, the ANA pointed out that, "[c]ommercial privacy
issues must not be allowed to be conflated with government
surveillance and potential reforms at the NSA. These issues must
not be confused with interest-based advertising or online
behavioral advertising
