So I've been thinking a lot lately about personal data and information sharing, and exactly what it is companies do with that data. Mostly as a result of some class discussions, Google's updated privacy policy, and because I'm the kind of geek that thinks about these things. If "it's all about the data", then thinking about what constitutes the data, how it's collected, who's collecting it, and what they're doing with it are all highly relevant concerns.

I like to frame ideas about how we choose to provide companies with our data around three different concepts:
1) "Frequent buyer" cards
2) Google and other "trackers"
3) Facebook

These are two wildly different modes of data collection. Let me explain why.

1) Frequent buyer cards

Also known as rewards cards, member cards, etc., you have to fill out some kind of application to get one of these, in which you provide some basic personal information and in essence agree to let the company use that information and the card to track purchases you make. Whether they sell this info to other companies or use it for their own nefarious purposes depends a lot on the company and the fine print on the card. In general we tend not to mind these kinds of data collection because we reap benefits from it--in essence, we are compensated for our data (or, as J.Z. put it in class today, we are monetizing our own data). This compensation comes in the form of coupons, deals off the standard price, early notice of sales, etc. I don't carry many of these, but I do have a Wegman's Shoppers Club card. Regardless of your personal views on Wegman's, you have to admit that they know their data. I've been contacted by them twice in the last 8 months or so, both times relating to purchases I'd made. The first was to notify me that they'd recalled all bulk pine nuts (which we fairly frequently) due to concerns about salmonella. In this case, I have to say I was appreciative, as my personal health was at stake. (Let's ignore the fact that we'd eaten nearly all of them.) The second time was to let me know that their store-brand mushrooms--which we buy on a somewhat regular basis--were now going to be sourced closer to home but, consequently, there'd be some down time before the new ones would be in store. They suggested name brand alternatives to the store brand.

Both of these are uses of my information that I don't particularly mind, as they benefited me in some form personally or financially.

2) Google

Google is perhaps the best example of a company that takes our use of its product to track as much information as possible. You use their search engine, email, YouTube, etc., and in turn they track info about you. In theory this is to provide more targeted advertising to you, though we all have our suspicions about what else they do with it.

The new privacy policy, which seems to simply make these practices more transparent, really seems to have ticked some folks off--I've heard arguments that Google represents a monopoly and, without an opt-out option, we are now "forced" into this data collection. (Mind you, this is more or less the same data collection they've been doing for years...they're just telling you all the details now.) Threats to abandon Google altogether have ensued.

At some level, how is Google's "targeted" advertising stream any different than Wegman's letting me know about the canned mushrooms? I'm using a service they provide, they're tracking what I do with that service, and making suggestions based on a history (using some algorithms to filter through to find relevant patterns). If you believe Google is a monopoly, I suppose you have a valid argument that I can't choose to go somewhere else, but goodness knows there are other search providers, email providers, etc. (most of whom do the same thing but don't do it as well and aren't as transparent about their actions).

3) Facebook

Contrast the Google outrage with people's willingness to hand over to Facebook pretty much every sordid detail of their lives. Where they go, what they do, who they do it with, what music they listen to, what news stories they read, etc. And if you're one of those Facebook game-players, you're usually giving just about all of that data out to any of the third parties' apps you're using, as well.

And yet people rarely get up in arms about Facebook collecting information. Maybe we grumble about a new privacy policy that makes the more diligent of us have to adjust our privacy settings, or complain about how friends lists are displayed, but overall we keep using the thing.

Why is it that Google being more transparent causes us such outrage, but we'll willingly post work histories, highly personal details, embarrassing photos, and politically charged commentary on Facebook? Is the mere fact that we are doing this willingly the difference? I could argue I use Google willingly. Is it that Facebook is less forthcoming about what they do with those hundreds of pages worth of data they're saving about us, so we're content to live in an ignorant bliss about their actions? I must admit, the distinction is one that does not entirely make sense to me...


And what about privacy? Where exactly does that factor into all of this? We've been allowing companies to track a lot of our data for quite a long time, so stopping it seems highly unlikely. Is the key to be selective about who we choose to let track that information? Is it even possible to choose that any longer?

Perhaps the greatest irony is how willingly we as a culture have embraced this lack of culture. People sleep with their smart phones; Facebook addiction is now a recognized condition (aptly abbreviated to FAD: Facebook Addiction Disorder); and we are plugged in all the time--all that time feeding ever greater quantities of personal data into various heads of this data-collected hydra.

And on that happy note, I'm going to go unplug and walk in the snow.