The Great Brain Robbery

We are all observers of the greatest and most outrageous crime ever. In years to come we will reflect on being victims or participants of this carefully executed plot. Executives at Netflix will toil over whether their original content is called the Great Brain Robbery or Terms and Conditions Did Apply.

What is clear is that this will impact all of us, specifically our digital identities and our digital being: our location data, transactional data or our searches, through to our app downloads and usage. It will soon spiral further to include our digital DNA, relationships, biometrics, sexual activity and finally into our hopes, fears, aspirations and dreams.

The Great Brain Robbery is the exploitation of the personal data of the world’s population, without any explicit permission. The perpetrators of this dastardly crime, will be a handful of the world’s most powerful technology companies, who will claim that they were helping to connect the world or to manage the world’s information by providing useful services to the individual in exchange for access to data. They will claim that the individual had provided consent, because they pressed an ‘Accept’ button at the end of a long set of T’s and C’s.

The sophistication of this crime will be like none before, as the act of theft will not actually remove any data or delete anything. Instead it will merely take a copy, so we will be unaware that any theft has taken place.

But why do billions of people, all victims of this crime, not recognise that this theft is taking place? Why do we consider these “free services” such an important part of our lives, where we are willing to give up so much personal, secret and sensitive data to companies who just sell it onto other companies?

This is all part of the sophistication of the crime.

Do most people really know the truth? Do they understand the reality of this technology? Do they even care? Probably not.

At present, companies who are advanced in mining, storing and analysing personal data, use this data to drive their own profitability. They are collecting it for their own self interest and very few, if any, use this data to truly help people.

Globally, there are only a handful of companies, between 10–15, who have the scale and breadth to mine and analyse such data. They build a basic understanding of our needs and then sell this derived view of us, to the other 99.99% of companies who do not have the capabilities in-house. Whoever is willing to pay can have the access. They can learn about us and understand our needs, lifestyles and habits. There are no controls about how this data is used. Whether it be our personal medical data, financial data or location data; there is a multi-billion-dollar industry selling our data, without our permission.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a brilliant business model and all these companies are all in the top 30 enterprises in the world, but the best crimes are plotted by brilliant minds.

Could it all be a scam?

But do these companies really know us? How much do they really know? Every human is a complex person, so how can any company claim to know us, especially after only a few interactions with us?

Technology firms are using our interactions with them to build a profile for every individual, from which they try to draw an inference about us. This is really what they are selling, the derived data rather than the raw personal data.

Given the enormous scale of these data companies, they can use our data to identify patterns and causal effects; if Y happens then we are confident that X will happen. This is the gap. It is NOT about me. It is about what “people like me” are doing.

So rather than theft, is this just the greatest fraud ever to happen? Is this just a massive scam, which is only possible because 99.9% of companies believe there is value in buying this data? Do technology companies really know us? Or is it just a series of inferences which could simply be inaccurate?

Getting to my WHY

As I have aged, I have started to better know myself. I better understand what I want. I understand what annoys me and what brings me joy. I have experimented and had experiences so I am able to make more qualified decisions. Some of these things can be expressed but most are deeply personal. If they are deeply personal, then how could a technology company claim to know about them?

Technology companies are trying to infer an individual’s why using their what and how, but is it really this simple? Can they really understand why I do things, why I buy something, or why I am somewhere?

The personal part of any decision you make is generally something only you know. For example, from your data a technology company could know what shop you purchased lunch from, how you paid for the lunch and the location of the specific shop. However they do not know why you selected that food or shop.

This is personal to you. Was it a gut instinctive decision, “I feel like sushi”? Was it a carefully researched decision, “I need more vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids, because I am trying to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol”. Or was it because you were walking with Dave and he was having Sushi?

The tech companies want to know our why so they can better target us and build more detailed profiles, which they inevitably sell.

The Reality of Virtual

Do not think that these technology companies will stop here. As technology advances, you will see each of these companies invest billions into research, development and acquisition, to ensure they continue to build further “richness” into your personal profile.

Let’s take Virtual Reality (VR) as an example. VR should not just be seen as a new medium which allows you to game or immerse yourself in a mixture of physical and digital worlds. This technology is a new way for the smartest companies to better understand what is most important to you.

No longer is your written and spoken sentiment sufficient, but the hack now can extend to the dilation of your pupils, ably monitored through VR technologies. Companies will be able to analyse what you are watching, where you focus and what you are experiencing. As a result of this knowledge companies will be able to better understand your emotions. Companies will be able to better understand your feelings for someone or something, your health, your stress levels, whether you are lying, whether you are scared, excited or happy. Pupils will be part of the next stage of the Great Brain Robbery.

But again, is this well understood? Are we, as consumers, being warned about the perils of the technology, or are we just being marketed the glamour of the technology and robbed in broad daylight?

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In the second part of this series I will explain how we, at Jigsaw XYZ, plan to empower individuals to own and utilise their own data.