David J. Hand is emeritus professor of mathematics and senior research investigator at Imperial College London, a former president of the Royal Statistical Society, and a fellow of the British Academy. His many previous books include The Improbability Principle, Measurement: A Very Short Introduction, Statistics: A Very Short Introduction, and Principles of Data Mining.
You need to read [Dark Data], and be convinced by David's reasoning and his examples of cases in which unseen or unreported data play a critical and sometimes even a fatal role. You are likely to walk away with the feeling that the term dark data is indeed a very effective one to arouse both curiosity and suspicion, mixed with happiness that finally a great term was coined by a statistician-and sadness that the statistician is not you. ---Xiao-Li Meng, IMS Bulletin An exploration of a major problem in data analysis with an attempt of classification, analysing causes, mechanisms, and to some extent also suggest mitigations. ---Adhemar Bultheel, European Mathematical Society [A] penetrating study of missing ('dark') data and its impacts on decisions . . . Hand offers expert training, from recognizing when facts are being cherry-picked to designing randomized trials. A book illuminating shadowed corners in science, medicine and policy. ---Barbara Kiser, Nature