Big Data – It Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself!

Have you ever really taken the time to consider how much of a “fingerprint” you leave on the Internet?  From Facebook posts and Tweets, to reading the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and even further beyond to your every single web click being recorded, virtually everything you touch on the Internet leaves a virtual fingerprint.  Ever notice that Facebook ad that keeps popping up for rentals in that trendy new loft apartment building which just opened in town?  Think that ad appeared there by coincidence shortly after you were searching for apartments on Craigslist?  If you’ve taken the time to reflect upon these often over-looked events that pass instantaneously while you peruse the Internet, then you’ve thought about “Big Data.”

Whether you carry a Blackberry (who’s desperately trying to get someone to buy them at the moment) or an iPhone, your smart phone is now the most extensive means to which advertisers can look deep into your subconscious in order to deliver the most appropriate and effective ad content to your device.  Thought it was a coincidence that you were using Yelp and an advertisement pops up for the boutique you’re just about to pass?  Congratulations, you’re now carrying a GPS that knows which ad content to push to your phone based on your location.  Just like Kanye used to say….that sh*t cray! 

Of course, not everything is positive in the realm of big data and digital devices.  This topic is sure to cause about as much controversy in the near future as the NSA's "liberal" surveillance policy.  If advertisers can track how you're using your phone and identify the kinds of websites and content you're viewing, it's only a matter of time before other other more sensitive forms of data, such as financial and health records, become compromised.  Time to start monitoring your credit score with the same vigor advertising agencies portray while monitoring the use of your smart phone.