Big data privacy and security: A systematic analysis of current and future challenges

Abstract

Big data is a term that describes data of huge volumes, variable speeds, and different structures. Even though the rise of big data can yield positives, the nature of big data poses challenges as capturing, processing and storing becomes difficult. One of the challenges introduced by big data relates to its privacy and security. Privacy and security of big data is considered one of the most prominent challenges as it directly impacts on individuals. Through big data, individuals lose control over how their data is used and are unable to protect it. An invasion of privacy occurs when one’s data is used to infer aspects of one’s life without our consent. The prospect of data breaches in big data is also expected and can result in millions of records containing personal information being leaked. This paper aims to understand the privacy and security challenges that relate to big data. In order to gain this understanding, a systematic literature review is conducted to firstly identify the general challenges of big data. Currently, a number of research papers are identifying the challenges of big data however these papers do not follow a sound methodological process in identifying these challenges. The systematic literature review process consists of sequenced steps that must be followed to ensure that your research produces the required results. The systematic literature review was chosen to ensure that the three questions posed in this research are answered. These questions are: What are the current big data related challenges, what challenges are related to privacy and security and what future challenges can be identified from the analysis of these challenges. The top challenges of big data are discussed briefly and narrowed down into the challenges that are related to privacy and security of big data. In conclusion, this paper will provide reflections on future big data challenges. This outcome of this research is firstly to identify the big data challenges, secondly to understand the privacy and security challenges that relate to big data and lastly to provide insight into the future challenges that can impact on big data.