National Data Collection Provides Host Of Information
National Data Collection Provides Host Of Information
The federal government, along with a host of other agencies, conducts national data collection for a variety of reasons and by drilling down into this information can spot trends and needs for the entire country. There are numerous uses for the information as well as different methods to interpret the national data collection analysis.
For example, the United State Department of Justice conducts surveys on crime and police use of force. How this national data collection is used and shared is typically determined by those using the data. Police departments may point to the analysis and say that .02 percent of arrested criminal claims they were abused by the police. If there were one million arrests made they could claim that only 200 out of a million people were making the claim.
If the analysis from this same national data collection were used by victim advocates, they may decry the fact that 200 of those arrested were abused by the police. By drilling deeper into the data collected, it could be determined if the 200 abuses occurred in 200 different communities, which could be interpreted as isolated incidents. If the 200 abuses were found to have occurred in only one or two communities, it could be indicative of a real problem in isolated areas.
Information Used For And Against Those Gathering It
News agencies are often the first to spout analysis from national data collection results, especially if it could boost ratings. By citing the number of homeless people, for example, information of those who are homeless by choice, is often overlooked or ignored. Not placing the full blame on news groups, as it is often advocates for the homeless who spread the results of the data analysis. Yes, there are those who choose this lifestyle.
Some of the national data collection, however is under scrutiny by many people and organizations as being a violation of privacy rights. For example, it was revealed in May of 2006 that the National Security Agency had been compiling information on every phone call made within the United States, presumably for reasons of national security.
The telecommunications companies that supplied the data to the NSA has come under fire by privacy advocates as well as their customers unhappy about the information concerning their private calls being shared without their knowledge, with no apparent reason given except that the government wanted it for their records.
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