Significant potential for the use of these types of data in socio-economic research exists, but in many cases the cost/benefit ratio has not been measured or compared with other forms of data analysis. One should not assume that these types of data are always cheaper to draw conclusions from.
The risks are numerous, and will depend on the type of data, the context in which he data were created, the owner of the data, the method of ‘analysis’, and the purpose to which the analysis is put. If personal data from a government business information system is used by respected researchers, whose research is approved by data owners europe rcs data for public good, who understand the complexities of the data, work in a secure environment, have their outputs vetted, and are aware of the penalties under the law, the risks of anything “bad” happening is virtually zero.
Some very specific risks surround the quality of these data. on insights from attractive new forms of big data, without the necessary work to understand and calibrate the extent to which it provides valid alternatives to more traditional forms of data being done. In the main, traditional census and survey type data sources involve considerable effort in the design of questions, sampling frames and definitions, allowing users to understand and quantify issues such as representativeness and bias.