readersdigest.co.in 53I’m calling you from my cell phone, so
first question: Who, if anyone,
is listening?
That’s a tricky one because of the lack of
transparency on the part of service pro-
viders. What we can say for certain is
that, through our smart devices—our
phones, tablets and computers—they
are capable of capturing and storing our
data. We tend to think of ‘spying’ in
terms of eavesdropping on conversation,
but these days it’s really more about
companies capturing
digitized information:
your texts, emails, photos,
preferred routes and even
the barometric pressure
of the air around you.
But I never said that
was okay!
You have to dig into the
terms-of-use agreement
to figure out what data is
being saved by the corporation, and
what is being disclosed to third parties.
Often we don’t realize what we are con-
senting to when we use certain apps and
programs. If you give Instagram permis-
sion to access your photos and micro-
phone, they can record you any time the
app is on and use that information for
their own purposes.
What kinds of purposes? And what
possible reason is there for tracking
the barometric pressure in the air
around me?
You got me. I was really surprised by
that one, too. The attitude at the big five
tech companies [Google, Amazon,
Facebook, Apple, Microsoft] tends to
be: If we can digitize everything—that
is, turn user information into a series of
zeros and ones—we’ll figure out ways
to use it later. Their ultimate goal is that
your fridge is talking to your stove to
see what you’re cooking, and if you’re
out of an ingredient the fridge can have
it sent to you via an Amazon drone.So they are gathering
our personal data to
sell us things?
Steering consumer be-
haviour is one the most
obvious applications—
like the targeted adver-
tising that you see
on your Facebook page.
Or maybe my phone
texts me when I’m
walking by a Starbucks
because it knows I’m addicted to
skinny mocha lattes.Wait—how would your phone know
you love lattes?
Through GPS it could know that I’m at
Starbucks at the same time every mor-
ning. Or maybe I pay using my phone
and then access a customer rewards
program. I also could’ve emailed you
about lattes, or ‘liked’ a photo of a latte
on Instagram. It’s these tiny actions that
we don’t even think about. With an
example like pushing coffee beverages,
it can seem harmless. But then thereMY PHONE
COULD KNOW
THAT I’M
ADDICTED
TO SKINNY
MOCHA
LATTES.Reader’s Digest