We know what you do online?
Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to take candy from a stranger? So, why don’t we listen to our most basic instinct. Is the candy worth more than all the personal information we give away?
From angry birds to flashlight apps on your mobile phone, if it’s free, chances are you are the product, not the consumer. Think about it for a second. In most free societies and economies, we work for a living, make money, and buy what we need and want to sustain our lives and families. Nobody really gives us anything for free. Why don’t we heed the advice from our mothers when we were kids?
It’s the fastest growing sector of the economy right now, has no regulation, and every business is getting it from you, the consumer. “It’s called data, and it’s the biggest and newest form of capital that companies are acquiring.” Hence, the collection, acquisition, manipulation, analysis, and resale of information is now the biggest growing commodity.
Take your smartphone. It has between five and nine sensors inside, depending on the model, writes Dubravac. Hidden inside are a barometer, magnetometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, motion coprocessor, and sensors that measure temperature, humidity, ambient light, proximity, and sound. “How much do you think all that high tech costs? The costs of all the sensors add up to under $5. Some obviously are more expensive than others, but the cheapest can be bought for as little as $0.07,” Dubravac writes. – InformationWeek: CES 2015: Big Data A Quiet Star
Watch this 15 minute video from CBS’ Investigative Reporting 60 minutes to be convinced:
The deluge of data and the new business models being created in it’s wake and ecosystem has only just begun. More digital data has been produced in the last two years than in all of human history.
So much so, that companies like Amazon are filing patents for “Anticipatory Shipping” which triggers an algorithm that triggers a warehouse bot, that will eventually trigger product delivery via drone to your doorstep. All you did was shop and surf online. By analyzing what you and others like you bought and did online, Amazon starts moving merchandise that you are most likely to buy next. You can read all about it here:
Amazon “Anticipatory Shipping” Patent Business Model. – TechCrunch
Mathematical algorithms are now predicting human behavior before we even think about it. If you are using any device with a possible connection to the internet, via wire or satellite triangulation, chances are you are the product, not the consumer.
If you would like to learn more about what data marketing companies like Epsilon, Axciom, and Experian are collecting about you, how they get it and use it, and why it’s important, just visit the following site which is part of the Axciom group. You will be able to create an account to see exactly what they know about you, and also have the opportunity to opt out. www.aboutthedata.com
Read the full online article about data collection and its practices here:
Mapping, and Sharing, the Consumer Genome – The New York Times
…Consumer Data Products Catalog offers hundreds of details called elements that corporate clients can buy about individuals or households, to augment their own marketing databases. Companies can buy data to pinpoint households that are concerned, say, about allergies, diabetes or senior needs. Also for sale is information on sizes of home loans and household incomes. Clients generally buy this data because they want to hold on to their best customers or find new ones or both. – The New York Times
There is nothing wrong with companies sending us relevant offers via our electronic devices. It’s just digital marketing, nothing more, nothing less.
So, before you take that candy from the stranger, remember what your mother told you.
