Dangers of more data

In response to the article "The predictive power of data" (The Actuary, August 2014), there is an old saying: "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing". 

All too often, there is a focus on drawing inferences from data without understanding firstly the objective of the exercise, the nature of the data available, the suitability of the data for what one wishes to measure and, more importantly, what is missing from the data available and how to interpret the results of the data analysis. 

I welcome 'big data' but have serious concerns about whether it will lead to genuine Eureka moments or whether the focus on data will become a false idol that detracts from comprehensive analysis and leads to misplaced confidence and a riskier world.