3.2 CUSTOMERS BIG DATA Every two days we create more data than we did from the beginning of time until 2020. Watch this video to learn more: Big data: why should you care? posted by The Guardian Answer the question: what are big data most useful for? Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data produced everyday since the beginning of the digital era. The rise of computers, the Internet and the rapid development of wireless technology have all contributed to the evergrowing amount of data that can be captured from the world. We generate data whenever we go online, when we carry our smartphones, when we communicate with our friends through social media or chat applications, and when we shop. This data is what makes up our digital footprint, a kind of portrait of who we are online. What big data represents This is what is called website tracking , which is mostly carried out by means of cookies, short text files that are stored in the memory of a user s device while browsing. ONLINE RESOURCES Data protection awareness: consapevolezza to browse: navigare, dare un occhiata evergrowing: in costante crescita footprint: impronta, orma to gather: riunire, raccogliere portrait: ritratto source: fonte to store: immagazzinare tracking: tracciamento 188 The real world for companies The trace that Internet users leave when they are online provides companies with valuable information that allows them to target their consumers with greater awareness. Just to make some examples, we have all experienced that YouTube keeps traces of videos we have been watching and shows us similar videos to watch next based on our interest. Similarly, while using search engines or visiting websites, pop-ups or banner ads appear based on the things we have browsed for. This happens because businesses use the trails we leave online to personalise their communication with potential consumers. By doing so, companies can run their operations much more efficiently. Benefits Analysing data from any source, in fact, can give companies the chance to reduce costs and save time: by using different tools and social media, businesses can do many tasks without wasting time and money. Big Data can help them develop new products or improve existing ones: in fact, it allows businesses to know customers preferences so that they can offer products which meet their requirements exactly. Besides gathering and storing data for future use, companies also share it with other businesses that might find it interesting and make extra money by selling it. Downsides Handling such a huge quantity of data, however, represents a major problem: first of all it is not always easy for companies to determine which data is really relevant, and, secondly, in order to make sense of all this information, they need to hire experts. Finally, there is the risk they might violate people s privacy and risk legal actions by using such data.