Much Ado About Data
It was discovered recently, to the dismay of many, that we are all being tracked by the smartphones that we cherish oh so dearly. After the poking and prodding of the tech media and the threat of congressional investigation, Apple announced that the storage of data was a mere glitch, simply the product of an overzealous cell-tower-triangulation formula. Technobabble. The masses calmed down, and to top things off with a cherry, a patch was made to end all cause for concern.
But what is it that makes us so afraid of being tracked? In this modern world of social media and micro-blogging, aren’t we just begging for someone to notice? Someone to care? Throngs of people are already announcing their whereabouts by checking into restaurants and movie theaters on Foursquare and Yelp – but why? Is it because of the elusive “Fear of Missing Out” syndrome that is sweeping the nation or the prospect of becoming the mayor of your favorite watering hole?
The answers to all of the above lie somewhere in the realm of general confusion, fear of the unknown and some odd form of peer pressure. People are leaving this trail of Internet dust all over the place almost as a territory-marking reflex – a way to say, “I was here” to an often less-than-enthusiastic online community. What many see though is that this massive collection of data in some way, shape or form will benefit themselves or society as a whole in some great way – as if the collective thought of every Internet user will revolutionize the way we do things.
And by golly, I think we may be on to something. In a recent New York Times interview, Michael Zimbalist, the director of the New York Times Research and Development Lab, stated that “When our personal data becomes accessible to us in a useful form, all kinds of things become possible. But more importantly, we can become active collaborators in the quest for solutions to important problems in fields such as public health, genetics and urban planning.” His new web tool, Openpaths.cc, is allowing people to willingly send in their collected iPhone data to allow researchers to do what they do best – analyze data.
From an advertising standpoint, think of how useful it would be to know the specific behaviors of individuals. It would be fantastically wonderful to live in a world where my Groupon “deal of the day” wasn’t laser hair removal, or where my online food-finding searches would tell me what I’d like based on my prior dining choices rather than constantly pushing the same tired food chains. Or imagine grocery coupons popping into your inbox the second you pull into the grocery store parking lot. Social location sites are already tapping into this great trove of data from the willing, and both consumers and individuals are seeing great benefits.
But alas, we’re just not quite ready to step off of the deep end. As with anything that seems Big Brother-esque, people are very skeptical – and it’s their right to be. Maybe having your every move tracked by “the cloud” is a bad thing. Maybe this whole Facebook business will come back to bite us. Maybe we’re all hurtling towards some kind of Orwellian nightmare – unaware of the consequences of public data. Maybe… but I don’t think so.
About the Author: Chris Hall
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