- 1) What use is this data? (The big "so what" kind of question).
- 2). Who has access to this data?
Very good questions, both! I'll try the first one, first.
The data is used in a process called 'knowledge discovery' or 'data mining' (KDDM). Here's a link to an UCLA published article that is at-the-same-time basic in scope and technical.
UCLA Data Mining Article by Jason Frand. Skim it, if you'd like, but the real term to search for is "Privacy Advocates," but be prepared to sort through a lot of stuff. Here's a result from Penn State U:
Privacy Issues in Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining by Ljiljana Brankovic and Vladimir Estivill-Castro But as you search be aware that you're now in their list as a part of the class of people called, "Interested_in_Privacy" or some such thing.
When I was in the course selection process for my Network Security degree I wanted to study advanced mathematics which included the "appeal" that beckoned me toward Advanced Calculus and its' predictive abilities for gaming. There are ways to use math to predict what gamers will do. Those skills are still way beyond me but it was fun getting the gist of the idea and it made learning easier because there were personal goals to keep my focus. The 'predictive abilities' of math and data are where the 'amazing' part comes in. When they put it to use.
One study shows that men who buy diapers on a Wednesday or Thursday limited their time in store and were more likely to buy beer. Contrast that with the same men and their habits on a weekend. It seemed that they would come in during the week for diapers and pick up the beer for the weekend while keeping their other impulses in check. A,
"I don't got time for that now," kind of thing.
A metaphor that is useful while considering such things is studies of the properties of expanding gasses. Nobody can predict the random movement of a single atom. But given enough of them by considering all the atoms in a balloon? Think about what happens when you blow it up. Now that's a force with an outcome we may predict. Not an single atom, but when applied to a large enough population? The balloon WILL expand. We know this for a certainty but we are blind on a specific individual level. There's a thing called Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, or Indeterminacy Principle, articulated (1927) by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, which states that B
OTH the position and the velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, even in theory. That is offset by 'Fuzzy Logic' (Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false" (1 or 0) Compuer or Boolean logic) and these are all subjects worthy of their own studies and research but I'm not the best person to ask. Keep in mind, we do not know yet the full use of such stuff; the potential use suggests that it's as yet untapped (or almost untapped). They are compiling huge amounts of data like it's gold and that says a lot all by itself. Business won't invest that much time and money on something that they can't exploit. It is a vast resource.
I'm a Centrist, politically, and a Generalist when it comes to knowledge. So I don't much go in for Conspiracy Theories, but if you do look at some of the "Privacy Advocate" sites you'll run into those who love conspiracy - just be aware that they are cooks but there is some truth to be found even there. Take with a grain of salt, as my dad would say. It takes a special eye to be able to sort the disinformation from the honest concerns but I think that business can be counted on to try to maximize profits and minimize loss. That's a guarantee.
So,that's what they use it for. It doesn't sound too ominous, does it? I don't like the sound of it though. Especially with Citizen's United court decision in place regarding "Corporate Citizens". They have too much clout comparatively. Okay - now for question #2.
- 2). Who has access to this data?
Technically? Everybody has access. But that's not true, not really. In much the same way that locks prevent honest people from entering your house but windows allow all criminals easy access, in much the same way, any hacker (even the baby hackers) can, with a tiny bit of research or training, can access data found on cell phones, kept by Facebook, by Google and by Microsoft. It's not because the large corporations do not do their duty or that they are not properly protecting their data (it's not yours per their ToS). They do protect their data. It's a major business investment and resource.
But... and here's the rub... do you? Do you protect their data? The data they've compiled on you? You're the weak link in that chain. I should change that to the more friendly version,
"We're the weak link," because it applies to everybody to one degree or another.
I don't want to say too much and will ask a moderator to take a look at my answer here
reba to ensure that it's okay to say, but the need for strong passwords for your devices is paramount. I can not stress that enough. That's how the junior crackers (name for Black-hat hacker) do it. It doesn't take long to crack any password. Those of us who are trained in Computer and Network Security are bound by ethical concerns (and agreements). But those concerns don't apply to thieves any more than locks apply to those trained in picking locks but not formal locksmithing.
The "what's the point" aspect to want to connect to it are largely buried by online drama of friends losing friendships, and a large amount of issues I don't agree with or don't care to read being the forefront of what I see in the main pages.
I have a total of ten (10) Facebook 'friends,' no more. But Google is actually better at KDDM than FB (meaning they do more of it).
