The topic of reality mining stood out to me as an interesting phenomenon coming out of social networking research. It is essentially a way of using a variety of location aware devices to monitor peoples movement. Scientists believe this can help them better understand human behavior and how we interact. A particular study of reference was performed by MIT with a partnership with Nokia.
The implications for this type of research extend to many areas ranging from homeland security, traffic management, and targeted marketing. However, a concern I personally have, and one that has cited in a number of articles discussion reality mining, is what is the trade-off with gathering all this information?
The most prominent point is the privacy implications. There are some studies performed with opt-in participants, but with the advancements in technology the same type of studies can be performed on involuntary subjects. What protections are in place to notify and protect the average person from abuse of the information? I tend to be a little cautious (some would say paranoid), so I am curious to have some other opinions on the subject. Does the rise of reality mining concern you? If so, what specific concerns do you have?
For more information visit the, There's Gold in 'Reality Mining' article over at Businessweek.com
We've created a monster!
14 years ago
Reality mining makes me wonder when the digtal age and the Bill of Rights are finally going to come decicisvely head to head. In pqarticvular:
ReplyDelete4th Amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,"
As monitoring becomes a ubiquitous part of life, should the right to be "secure in their persons" be extended futher into public areas or restrited to private homes?
Reality mining definitely concerns me as a consumer because I want to know that this information is being collected. Believe it or not, but in my Buyer Behavior class last semester we actually learned that there are some regulations that are going to be put in place. Companies are going to be or should be required to tell consumers that information is being collected. Like you mentioned giving the opt-in option or the opt-out option.
ReplyDeleteFrom a marketing perspective, when people know that they are being watched, you tend to act differently. It is no longer your natural reaction to a particular product or idea, it is somewhat adjusted. What is collected has slightly lost value, which points to the brilliant idea behind reality mining.
As you can tell, I am kind of on the fence with this issue. By doing the mining, marketers can figure out what we like and are interested in and figure out the best way to target us. That way we still get all the mass mailings, but at least it will be about products that we are interested in.
One concern I have comes from the above post referencing consumers' behavioral change resulting from the knowledge of being observed. With this perspective (and given the validity of the observation which I personally believe is true), the observing body could effectively control the observed merely by informing them of the frequency, quality, and characteristics of the observations.
ReplyDeleteFor example, what if a secondary school official uses reality mining to observe social interactions, and the students learn the school psychologist uses this information to find and help isolated students (exhibiting little interactions in the network.) In order to avoid detection, the students could make sure they converse with (or appear to converse with) a few other students. The school has changed their behavior, in this case likely in a positive way. Just an idea.
With this idea, imagine how public authorities/agencies could change your behavior by using reality mining and revealing its use. Would you still go to certain places?
I used to think I would never get a GPS device because (a) I have an amazing sense of direction (kidding!), and (b) I was always reminded of George Orwell. Then, I learned that I can be tracked through my cell phone, whether I am making a call or not. It is pretty scary stuff, but I tend to think it has been happening all along. Didn't the FBI just admit that the government was involved in illegal practices by tapping our phone lines for years, under the guise of anti-terrorist activity? So now we are more aware of being "watched," but if you ask me, it is no new phenomenon...
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