From the article: When scientists publish their research, they also make the underlying data
available so the results can be verified by other scientists. At least that is
how the system is supposed to work. But lately social scientists have come up
against an exception that is, true to its name, huge. It is “big data,” the
vast sets of information gathered by researchers at companies like Facebook, Google
and Microsoft from patterns of cellphone calls, text
messages and Internet clicks by millions of users around the world. Companies
often refuse to make such information public, sometimes for competitive reasons
and sometimes to protect customers’ privacy. But to many scientists, the
practice is an invitation to bad science, secrecy and even potential fraud. Read more
