Classroom Companion: Business

20.3.5 
 Insurance
The insurance industry uses big data to predict variations in life expectancy, health 
costs, and cost of natural disasters and personal accidents using information from 
public and private databases.
20.3.6 
 Retailers
Big department stores collect enormous amounts of data about their customers. If 
goods are paid by cash, the customer is anonymous but not if bank and member-
ship cards are used. In the latter case, the retailer may use the information for per-
sonalized marketing. The retailers also use the information for logistics and other 
administrative purposes.
20.3.7 
 Data Brokers
Data brokers (or information broker) receive or buy information from various sup-
pliers, for example, social networks, retailers, influencers, app owners, and so on. 
This may be unprocessed raw data or data that has been processed to some degree. 
The data broker may then process the data further and sell processed data to other 
organizations on demand or in the open market.
20.3.8 
 Electronic Media
Social media, newspapers, journals, and the TV industry use data they collect about 
the customers to produce targeted advertisements, editorials, and articles. They may 
also use the data to detect changes in user behavior, increase customer loyalty, and 
prevent churning. They may also sell this information to marketers (see above).
20.3.9 
 Science
Big data analytics is a key feature of several of the world’s largest scientific exper-
iments, for example, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, 
20.3 · Use of Big Data

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correlated gravity wave detectors in the USA, Japan, and Italy, neutrino detec-
tors, and big arrays of astronomical radio telescopes. In all these cases, the prob-
lem is to sift through enormous amounts of data to detect rare events that may 
predict new physics and provide knew knowledge in the fields of astronomy and 
cosmology. Big data is also used in sport sciences to determine the effect of train-
ing, diet, and body functions measured by sensors in or attached to the body.