Info 200: Contemporary Social Issue
Professor David Stearns, University of Washington
Big Data and it’s Effect on Consumerism
By Jeff Pinkstaff
Intro
It is important to know that nowadays whenever you use the internet you are leaving behind a trail of bread crumbs. It’s also important to know that business corporations love following these data trails, and picking up these “crumbs” is the hobby of many large companies like Google, and Amazon, and Facebook.
I always knew that these things went on, but I never worried about it.
I never worried about my personal data trail because I truly believed that corporations were picking up the data as I left it behind. I always felt like I was a lap ahead of these data analytic systems, but now, after being introduced to the concept of Big Data — I no longer feel safe as an online consumer.
To start things off I need to define “Big Data”.
According to the data science website SAS:
“Big Data is a term that describes the large volume of data — both structured and unstructured — that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis”.
What this means, in simpler terms, is that Big Data is the product of many pieces of information — so many, in fact, that professions like data miners, data scientists, and information architects are either sprouting up or are experiencing genetically modified-like growth. The term “Big Data” has also evolved to include in it’s definition the ability to process massive quantities of intelligence — and it is because of this — that we as consumers are no longer ahead of the giant corporations that once fed off our tiny little data crumbs.
Through technological advancement these giant corporations have been able to take our data and track it so efficiently that they can now effectively be looking over our shoulder while we shop online, or post to our favorite social medias. In some cases, these corporations are not only neck-and-neck with us while we online browse — they are even ahead.
The Problem
My issue with big data may not be clear at first — but if you liken this concept to the creation of mankind’s first fully functional automatic weapons then it begins to make a lot more sense. With such a technological innovation the playing field between businesses is no longer neutral. Bullets and bombs will always beat sticks or stones, much the same way that companies using big data analytics will always beat fresh start up companies— and this means that corporations we love such as Netflix, Sony, and Microsoft, have the power to become monopolistic within their industry.
While Netflix is certainly not evil there are companies that could use this wealth of information-as-resource to manipulate consumers. This is a key issue that UW and Stanford Law graduate Ryan Calo makes in his paper Digital Market Manipulation. In an analysis of Calo’s paper Rebeca J. Rosen sums up the key ethical issue to “protecting consumers from profit-seeking corporations, who are gaining an insurmountable edge in their efforts to get people to part with their money”.
Instead of marketing being a practice where an advertisement is placed in front of a user, it may well evolve into steering that user directly to a particular product. Companies already attempt this concept today by grouping similar products in a store.
If you are walking down the aisles looking for tortilla chips and you suddenly see salsa that store wants you to come out with both the chips and the salsa. While to most shoppers, this crosses no ethical boundary I argue that the line is drawn not too far from here. Imagine if companies are able to use the huge amounts of intelligence that they are tracking (and they can always track more) in order to place an advertisement on your screen at a point in time that can “reach you at your most susceptible” (Calo, 2015).
This is emotional and psychological warfare, and the direct stakeholders of Big Data are the consumers with corporations pulling the strings, and becoming a bigger target because of Big Data sciences is exactly why consumers should have the right to know what information is being tracked.
Luckily, however, Big Data isn’t all evil.
The Counter Side
Big Data tracking is like a gun. In the hands of a criminal we feel threatened, but in the hands of a good police officer we feel protected.
With the ability to effectively track petabyte-sized data companies have been given the power to excel in multiple areas — and these come as benefits to both the corporation and the consumer.
With advanced prediction modeling big data users can more easily meet customer wants and needs. By tracking how you use an object, how long you use an object, and where you use an object tech companies are able to quickly resolve past issues with product performance and are more able to fine-tune their products for customers. When it comes to business “The customer experience is the biggest reason people do business with certain companies, whether or not they recognize it” (Alton, 2015).
Larry Alton, a professional blogger, writer, and researcher, claims that “Big Data is the reason that every year or two Apple comes out with a brand new version of their iPhone”. This certainly makes sense, because following basic logic the quicker you find out something is broken then the quicker you can fix it. Big Data actually does have the ability to grant customers quicker service, better service, and smarter service.
Another benefit of Big Data is that because of the power of consumer loyalties, users of big data tracking will be forced to make the data they are tracking more transparent.
“If the organization is transparent about what data it collects, the organization can be trusted to keep data secure, and the benefits of the collection are clear to the customer, most people are happy.”-Maxwell Luthy
If Luthy’s statement holds up then people looking to online shop have nothing to fear so long as retailers recognize that to draw in customers they must also be open about shady data-trackers for one clear reason:
As noted by Allan Hall, an entrepreneur, “successful company leaders have a clear understanding of their customers” (Forbes).
If Big Data truly is like a gun then it is the corporations that wield these guns.
If we don’t know if the corporation holding the gun is a good police officer or a criminal seeking to rob you of your money then there is one way we can easily turn.
We can trust reputations and reviews — and companies are aware of this which is why they build brands in order to establish credibility.
Regardless of credibility, however, big data should still be seen like a gun, and the problem with guns is that despite who wields them they still afford danger.
My Solution
While I don’t see big data analytics as inherently evil I do see it as too much of a threat to consumer autonomy to be left unchecked.
For the same reason a lion at the zoo remains behind glass big data users must adhere to stricter consumer protection laws at an internet-level.
I think that a good way to do this would be for corporations to be legally required to display the criteria that they choose to track while online.
This, in my belief, will put them on a tighter leash — which they need because both state and federal consumer protection laws already exist, yet companies are still actively playing the part of puppeteers “stealthily steering your hand into your wallet where the credit card rests, waiting to be swiped” as revealed by Tuttle (2010) in his article How You’re Being Manipulated into Buying Stuff You Don’t Want and Paying More Than You Should.
My biggest problem with the concept of Big Data is that there aren’t current laws requiring websites to publish hidden trackers, but most consumers are too passive or completely unaware of this. Instead of using opt-out methods corporations should legally be forced to make data tracking transparent in order to ensure that they are not trying to take advantage of those who are vulnerable.
Certainly, some companies are more morally angelic than others, but they often are forced to be this way due to consumer demand. Not every establishment is out to steal, pillage and plunder, but all for-profits are out for monetary gain — and it is up to both the consumer and consumer protection laws to stop those who would seek to take advantage of big data analytics.
A leap towards better consumer protection laws has already started with the judge-ruling that the NSA bulk collection of public phone calls is illegal.
To sum things up Big Data is an innovation that has forever changed the dynamic of business. It is akin to developing a new weapon that unfairly skews the balance of power in a consumer-corporation relationship. In order to identify how this power is being used there should be an active attempt from both consumers and consumer protection services to legally make online data trackers easily visible.
References
Baker, P. (2015, May 12). Big Data: Protecting Privacy Is Good For Business — InformationWeek. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applications/big-data-protecting-privacy-is-good-for-business/a/d-id/1320367
Savage, C., & Weisman, J. (2015, May 7). N.S.A. Collection of Bulk Call Data Is Ruled Illegal. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/us/nsa-phone-records-collection-ruled-illegal-by-appeals-court.html?_r=0
Calo, R. (2013, August 16). Digital Market Manipulation. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2309703
Hall, A. (2013, May 17). Listening to Customers Yields Success. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alanhall/2013/05/17/listening-to-customers-yields-success/
75Customer Service Facts, Quotes & Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.helpscout.net/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics/
Alton, L. (2015, June 26). 5 Ways Big Data Benefits Consumers. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.customerzone360.com/topics/customer/articles/405714-5-ways-big-data-benefits-consumers.htm
Rosen, R. (2013, August 16). What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking Us Online? Retrieved November 22, 2015, from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/what-does-it-really-matter-if-companies-are-tracking-us-online/278692/
