This recent blog post from the capital is bound to make some heads spin. From the post:
Big data is here to stay; the question is how it will be used: to advance civil rights and opportunity, or to undermine them. [Our organization] is deeply committed to ensuring the Federal government is on the forefront of using technology to advance civil rights and opportunity.
That sounds extremely noble and admirable until you recall the revelations of the a certain organization's phone metadata collection and its constant effort to expand its surveillance powers. 'Big data' has been around for some time now; it was just a matter of time before the organization from the link decided to become publicly-involved.
While some may see this as a validating move, experience tells me differently: more than once I've witnessed people proclaim military standards (milspecs) as some gold standard. While an amount of rigor was appropriate for some previous endeavors -- the space program is a fine example -- this isn't the case.
One of the great things about data and IoT is the freedom to work in a space that doesn't experience the constraints of a field where gov't has already imposed excessive regulations. The industry has flourished with its own set of standards.