The Transparent Human
In 2014, a German data scientist started to collect data about articles from the German digital newspaper magazine "Der Spiegel." For 2.5 years, he scraped over 100,000 articles as well as the associated metadata, such as publishing time, section, and author. After collecting the data, he began to analyze it. One of his findings was that he was able to predict which authors of "Der Spiegel" had intimate relationships with each other. Furthermore, his results provided insights into the internal personnel structure of the company itself.
This example already reveals the true danger of the transparent human. With only a small amount of data that may not seem particularly dangerous, you can gain highly personal insights about an individual. While I wouldn't assume any bad intentions on the part of David Kriesel, the German data scientist mentioned above, there are groups that may view everything differently and want to have an impact on you. They seek to change behavior and would like to manipulate individuals for their own advantage.
One of these groups was Cambridge Analytica – a British consulting company that was allegedly involved in the political campaigns for Brexit and the Trump presidential campaign of 2016. Their basic concept was to use data from Facebook activities to build psychographic profiles and utilize this information for micro-targeting techniques that would display different advertisements to different groups of users. Potential swing voters – those who are not quite sure who to vote for – would receive a more personalized message than those who were already convinced Trump supporters.
Of course, we don't know how significant the impact of Cambridge Analytica truly was on Trump's success in 2016, but we definitely know that their mere existence shows there are groups and organizations out there that would like to use your data to achieve their own goals. If a single German data scientist already has the means to reveal highly sensitive information about the authors of a major magazine, these groups and organizations are much larger, able to access more data, and possess far greater capabilities to retrieve and evaluate personal data for their profit.
In this blog, I aim to explain the concept of the "transparent human," highlighting how organizations can derive extensive insights about individuals from minimal information. I will also discuss the potential dangers associated with this transparency and suggest measures we can take to mitigate its impact.
What Is the Transparent Human?
The transparent human metaphorically describes a situation where people become transparent and easily traceable in their privacy due to extensive data collection. While there may not be a single end state of being transparent, it can be perceived more as a process. The more questions you can answer about an individual and the more information you have, the greater insights you are able to generate.
Please recognize that the relationship between the data and the amount and value of insights you generate defines the value of the data itself. Therefore, a large organization does not necessarily need big data to create big insights. Instead, they can use tools to impact your behavior. If they consistently collect just a few features about an individual, they can already generate remarkably strong insights. Three of the most powerful features to collect are who, where, and when.
When someone possesses detailed information about you, they can generate a multitude of insights, potentially leveraging them in various ways. I'm referring to sensitive insights like the following:
- Financially Insights: How much money do you earn? Do you have financial problems?
- Health: Do you have a serious diseases or do you use a therapy?
- Marital Status and Relationships: Do you have children? Are you married? How is your relationship going?
- Sexuality: What are your sexual preferences? Have you ever had an affair?
- Political Beliefs: Who are you voting for?
- Mental Health: Do you feel lonely or isolated? Have you ever had depression?
- Job Satisfaction: Are you happy with your job choice?
There are certainly many more insights that can be generated from this data. While there is no 100% certainty, and many insights are often merely estimations, the "who, where, and when" data provides a substantial analytical foundation. This information can be used to classify individuals, create detailed profiles, and render them transparent to those interested in their transparency.
So What? – I Have Nothing to Hide
These profiles can help various groups identify your deepest needs and desires – what makes you happy or what you believe can lead to happiness. For example, consider a person burdened by high debts, seeking money to free themselves from this financial cage, or someone who is perpetually single but believes that a partner can fill the void of their unhappiness.
During my time at one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, I encountered an advertisement for a drug that treats Crohn's disease (or Morbus Crohn). In the ad, a patient expressed their innermost desire: to walk through the streets without the fear of not having a toilet nearby. A common symptom of this disease is fecal incontinence. By identifying this deep-seated wish, marketing and sales teams can implement their strategies more effectively, gaining a better understanding of how to connect with their target audience.
Please don't misunderstand me – identifying needs and wishes is not inherently negative. Optimizing communication with patients can be beneficial, as some individuals may not recognize that a particular treatment aligns with their needs and desires. Similarly, in other areas of our lives, having an advisor to guide our decisions can be immensely helpful. For instance, when we consult a real estate agent, they identify our true needs and wishes for the perfect property and assist us in finding our dream home. However, the key difference lies in whether you actively approach someone and share aspects of your inner needs or unconsciously reveal significant parts of your true self to the world with just a click of a button.
Once your true nature has been revealed, these groups can identify the triggers that motivate you. Are you an extroverted person who quickly adapts to group behavior? Are there emotional buttons that can swiftly activate your responses and spur you into action? How susceptible are you to misinformation, nudging, and gamification techniques? Once they understand how to engage with you, it becomes significantly easier for them to influence the decisions they want you to make.
Who Can Possess Your Who, Where, When Data?
The first major players in data collection are governments and public institutions. The most obvious examples include collecting data about your birthplace and current residence at specific times. A more indirect case is the increasing use of public surveillance through cameras. For instance, when passing through a central station, each step may be monitored – yet many people are likely unaware that they are essentially live on camera while walking through the station.
However, these are not the only examples of systematic data collection by governments. In 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed documents about the National Security Agency's (NSA) global surveillance program, known as the NSA affair. Many people around the world, especially in the U.S. and Europe, were shocked and outraged by the extent of the NSA's monitoring. The revelations that ordinary citizens, not just suspected terrorists or foreign adversaries, were being surveilled led to feelings of betrayal by their governments. However, this shock did not last long. Within a few weeks, and after some bread and circuses, the majority of people had largely forgotten about it.
It's not only public institutions that are collecting your data. More and more companies employ entire teams of data engineers, data scientists, and data analysts to gather information and transform it into customer insights. These insights are then utilized by marketing teams and designers to create products that better fulfill your needs. In the realm of social media, designers leverage these insights to introduce more addictive elements to their platforms. A thorough exploration of this topic can be found in the Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma."
While it may be expected that companies, governments, and public institutions collect your data, the reality is that anyone can access it. With minimal technological skills, anyone can search for you online. They can see which platforms you are active on, and many individuals can use scraping technologies to automatically track your activities and predict your next moves.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?
If it were easy and cost-free, I would recommend simply stopping the production of data. However, in an age where smartphones are an integral part of our life, this is quite unrealistic. Moreover, you would have to give up many conveniences, including all digital products and mobility options, and even then, you would still generate data.
Instead, there are still actions we can take. While we may be limited in the data we produce, we can minimize our susceptibility to manipulation. We have control over whether we subscribe to newsletters or receive push notifications from certain applications. Utilizing ad blockers and creating separate folders for newsletters can help us manage incoming information. While seeking new offers from companies can be beneficial, we should always approach it with mindfulness to minimize the potential for manipulation.
If you feel that something is prompting you to make an impulsive decision, such as impulse buying, take a moment for a cooling-off period. After 24 hours, you can reassess whether it would still be a good decision.
Use your Rights: In the EU, under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), you have the right to request information about the data collected about you and to have that data deleted. This means you can inquire about what data has been accessed and how it has been stored.
One of the most important points is to act consciously with the data you share. It's crucial to understand that once we send our data into the world, we lose control over it, and it is up to others how to use it. This is especially true for photos posted on social media, which are often shared unconsciously – sometimes resulting in millions of images ending up on the dark web. If you would like to read about many other data breaches, you can find more information here.
Conclusion
In a world where data is continually being collected and analyzed, it is essential to recognize the implications of our digital footprints. By understanding who can access our personal information and how it can be used, we can take proactive steps to protect our Privacy. From exercising our rights under the GDPR to being mindful of the data we share, every action contributes to safeguarding our identities in the digital landscape. Awareness and intentionality in our online behavior are key to minimizing the risks of manipulation and ensuring that we maintain control over our personal information. By staying informed and vigilant, we can navigate the complexities of data usage and mitigate the potential threats that come with living in an interconnected world.
Wow, thank you for making it this far! If you're on the lookout for more exciting content, don't hesitate to hit that follow button. And if you're not racing off to the next blog post just yet, I'd love to hear your thoughts: Do you think we need stricter regulations on data collection and usage? Why or why not? Please share your opinions.
YouTube. (2017). SpiegelMining – Reverse Engineering von Spiegel-Online (33c3) – english translation [Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YpwsdRKt8Q&t=1941s (Accessed: 8 October 2024).
Confessore, N. (2018). Cambridge Analytica Scandal Fallout [online]. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html (Accessed: 8 October 2024).
CISO MAG, 2019. Instagram data breach exposes sensitive data of 49 million users online. [online] Available at: https://cisomag.com/instagram-data-breach-49-million-users-sensitive-data-exposed-online/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2024]
YouTube, 2020. The Social Dilemma | Official Trailer | Netflix. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaC57tcci0 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2024]
European Union, 2016. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation). [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32016R0679 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2024]
