The infamous #HASHTAG

When one initially thinks about the Hashtag, which is simply a # sign that allows topics to start trending so that others can see what people around the world are saying about that specific topic, they automatically assume Twitter. There is rumor that this epidemic is going to be making its way over to Facebook. This switch can be HUGE for companies that simply create a hashtag for consumers to tweet about which allows them to get immediate feedback from those who their companies directly serve.

Although many people wouldn't think about companies turning random suggestions from consumers through hashtags into profit, it is becoming more and more prevalent. Companies will simply create a unique hashtag that uses keywords for them to be able to search this topic. Analysts will "mine" through this data and use the information that is provided by the consumers to suggest many things such as new products, other business strategies and approaches to take on economic and governmental changes.

Since Facebook allows companies to have free business pages for people to "like" the hashtag will allow these companies to be able to get more directly connected with their customers. Twitter currently allows businesses to have a Twitter account but not as much information about that company can be displayed as compared to those pages on Facebook. Facebook allows companies to promote their products with pictures, advertisements, etc. Someone would more than likely look up a company on Facebook before they would on Twitter because there is more information readily available.

Adding the hashtag feature to Facebook will open up another line of communication between companies and consumers. The hashtag that is used for trending topics will create a lot of data that can be made useful by companies to generate more revenue. The analysts mentioned before may already be at the company or newly created positions within companies to help manage this data and find the trends in what consumers want. 

The purpose of this post was to be informative on how something we don't think much about such as adding a hashtag to the end of our tweet or now possibly our Facebook posts puts us in "database" if you will for companies to track us. When companies search the hashtag that their company created to get the feedback they can possibly track your tweets to get more information or simply pull your name and other personal information that is available on Twitter.

Sources:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/03/14/facebook_hashtags_annoying_twitter_feature_is_data_mining_advertising_gold.html

http://www.inc.com/tech-blog/twitter-hashtag-techniques-for-businesses.html

Not-So-Obvious Data Mining Motives

You have all probably heard examples of companies tracking purchases that you make and subsequently suggesting similar items for you in ads on your screen. You are also most likely familiar with companies mining public information you enter into websites such as birth dates and email addresses. You may, however, be surprised at the variety of data types that people seek. You may also be surprised when you learn of some unique ways companies use this data.

A recent article by Forbes titled ‘Data Mining CEO Says He Pays For Burgers With Cash To Avoid Junk Food Purchases Being Tracked’ mentions a few examples of mined data that isn't so often considered by the public.

For example, the article discusses how insurance companies use “aggregate data about individuals from records of things like prescription-drug and other retail sales, product warranties, consumer surveys, magazine subscriptions and, in some cases, credit-card spending” to determine insurance rates and premiums. In some cases, if a person appears healthy from the examination of this data, they may be allowed to skip in-person medical tests. For example, a person who is subscribed to a fitness magazine may receive a lower insurance rate than someone who is not. Due to this reality, Kevin Pledge (CEO), has decided to forgo using his membership card at the grocery store when he makes less-than-healthy food purchases.

The point here is that whether or not you are aware of the types of data being mined, you may not always understand why, or what it is being used for. This is only one example of a less obvious motive behind data mining. You would be surprised at just how much can be found out about a person from seemingly harmless information. With the increasing prevalence of this type of data mining, it can be hard to avoid. I do, however, think it is worth a second look when giving out any information. Ask yourself ‘what else could this information be used for?’

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/06/15/data-mining-ceo-says-he-pays-for-burgers-in-cash-to-avoid-junk-food-purchases-being-tracked/

Who's Trackin' You?

See Who is Tracking You!!

There are a few programs out there that will allow you to see who is tracking you and set your privacy settings accordingly:

·         Privacychoice.org- allows you to set/adjust your privacy settings on all social networking sites and more

·         Collusion- allows you to visually see third parties tracking you

·         Ghostery.com- allows you to see who is grabbing data from you when you visit different sites

I decided to download Ghostery (IT’S FREE) because I am interested in what kinds of sites are “grabbing” my information. Right now, I am on Facebook, school e-mail, Google, and Bass Pro Shop’s website. With Ghostery, there is a little ghost icon at the end of your URL bar. When trackers start grabbing information it will alert you by displaying a number on the ghost. While on Facebook, I have a 3 displayed, none on my school email, none on Google, but I have an outstanding 28 on Bass Pro Shop’s site. I wanted to know more. I clicked on the number 28 and it tells me all the sites getting information. I clicked on a random one; Ghostery provides me with the name and how it operates. This particular one that I clicked on was Adobe Digital Marketing and operates by Omniture! It even gives a synopses of what they do and why. This is a cool tool, and just gives you an idea of what is going on.

Sources:

http://privacychoice.org/

http://www.ghostery.com/

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/collusion/

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=ghostery+symbol&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.eWU&biw=1280&bih=687&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=ZYc3UZ3dJpSI9gSwq4DADA#imgrc=dbF2sBett4iiJM%3A%3BZc4iyieID49uAM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fslodive.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F09%252Fchrome-extensions%252Fghostery.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fslodive.com%252Fweb-development%252Fchrome-extensions%252F%3B600%3B300

2/5 of a Cent

To me data mining is all about personal privacy.  I love the convenience and perks data mining can add to my life.  But which do I value more? The convenience or privacy.

Cookies that save my Expedia searches are great.  But when all of the information about me from my internet usage across the web is combined it creates a profile with more than I would like to share with the world.  I would be fine with a general outline being shared like: female, age 20-25, Charlotte resident.  Much more beyond that is not knowledge these companies should know.

Check out this article from TIME to get an idea of what I am talking about.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2058205,00.html

I find it somewhat disturbing that it can be found out so easily the exact dollar amounts I spend on various sites.  Author, Joel Stein, explains that each piece of information like that or his religious affiliation are sold for about two-fifths of a cent.  The people collecting and selling your information have now been named "data brokers" although they prefer the title of "data analyzer." I would like to think that I could pay an few extra cents with my order and have it be a protected or anonymous purchase.  The issue becomes that there is more than one company trying to buy my information and their wallets are bigger than mine. I can't buy them all out.

If I can't stop them then who will? It may end up being our government. Our leaders are delving into this topic as an issue citizens face. Last year Congress’s Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus  met with nine data mining companies to dicuess the data brokering practices.  This meeting was in response to the Declaration of Internet Freedom. The Caucus did not make any conclusion or actions, but said they would “push for whatever steps are necessary to make sure Americans know how this industry operates and are granted control over their own information.”

This would be a big intervention if they did end up stopping or limiting this intrusive data mining. I'm not sure this practice should be illegal, but I feel it has gone too far.  If the government were to interfere, would they be hindering free trade or protecting its citizens?

How do you feel about the availability of your information? Do you think its use creates dirty marketing?  Is it the governments role to protect this information or is it public knowledge?

Additional Reading and Sources Cited:
http://www.dailydot.com/news/9-data-mining-companies-testify-congress/

Data mining becoming an issue in Pharmacies

Here is an article on data mining of drug prescriptions by Bill Mears, CNN Supreme court producer.

Pharmacies are required under law to preserve a doctor's prescription records, and although federal law protects a patient's privacy, a physician does not receive similar protections. Drug makers have been after profits hidden inside pharmacies for years, they are not after your name but after the drug being offered. Because laws are getting passed that are shrinking health care cost which is making it harder for companies to sell new and innovated products. Yes, data mining is in pharmacies but not after customers, but after the behaviors of doctors for writing the prescription, so when it is time to market they know what to go sell. Firms like IMS Health say their for-profit services benefit patients and doctors by making it possible to track disease and monitor drug safety and effectiveness. Do you think this benefits you?

Marketing of information on consumers' credit card purchases, Internet use, financial investments and savings, and insurance coverage may all be affected by what the high court decides for the first time on the issue of data mining for commercial purposes. Even potentially non-marketing uses, such as news reporting, scholarly research, and general publishing could be subject to some form of government regulation. Even though people are after all this information, is there really any possible way to make them stop? And how would we even know if we are being monitored or not? If the drug makers really feel that mining this information can be not only lucrative but can save lives I say why stop them. The government wants is so that laws would only prevent "further dissemination of the data except for health care research” and this could also give the doctors a chance to turn away marketers and create more privacy. But what if that marketer has a drug that has less side effects and cost a lot less for the doctor and patient? Are we missing out in that way or is our privacy more valuable to us?  

"High Court Hears Case over 'data Mining' of Drug Prescription Data." CNN. N.p., 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

Should college students be mine??

I came across an article: Mining Student Data Could Save Lives.  It is written by Michael Morris who is a lieutenant with the University Police at California State University-Channel Island.

In short, in the aftermath of nearly every large-scale act of campus violence in the United States, investigation has revealed that early-warning signs had been present but not recognized or acted upon.  An example is the shooting in Virginia Tech.  Since many campuses across the country, as well as UNC-Charlotte already provides students with an email address, personal access to the University’s network, free use of campus computers, and wireless internet access for our personal devices, Lieutenant Morris believes that colleges and universities should mine their students.  By logging into the computers on campus with our username and password or emails to use their wireless network, University officials could potentially mine data from their students and analyze them since our data is under their control.  The analysis could then be screened to predict behavior to identify when a student's online activities tend to indicate a threat to the campus.

Do you think it’s a matter of invading your privacy if University officials can view your search history, email messages, and Facebook/Twitter conversations posts just to see if you’re a threat?  Since I’m under constant surveillance already from other data mining companies I think that this can be a good and bad thing to do.  I have had conversations with friends on Facebook about my opinions on a professor and what he/she can change in a course, but that doesn’t label me as a threat to students or the professor.  I also used the computers to check my bank statements/accounts and I wouldn’t want anyone to see it. Identity theft is one of the biggest detested problems that we have today; we’re all human and even officials can become unethical.  Last, I wouldn’t want the university that I attend to pour out a lot of money into this, having over 25,000 students is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Again, what do you think?

http://chronicle.com/article/Mining-Student-Data-Could-Save/129231/