As a Facebook junky, I initially was drawn to the Clive Thompson article by the title and assumed the article would be more about Facebook. Much to my surprise, I learned of yet another social networking method--reality mining. Although reality mining has the potential to gather useful predictive data (e.g. spread of diseases), for some reason George Orwell's character "Big Brother" comes to mind!
I do like the idea of social network analysis and see the potential benefits. However, don't you think that collecting data from email or phone logs is a bit too intrusive? Do you really want someone tracking your every move and every conversation? What if this information got into the wrong hands? Although some of the data may aid in workforce efficiency--can this same data be used against you to perhaps get you fired? I wouldn't be as opposed to aggregate data use vs. individually identifiable information. With the prevalence of social network analysis, I wonder how long before new privacy laws and data protection laws start popping up.
I will agree that the concept is quite exciting. It reminds me of Facebook in that it's really exciting in the beginning--reconnecting with various people and exploring a fun, new medium to be in contact with your social network. But then after the novelty wore off, I did feel a bit exposed and found myself creating "limited profile" views for many in my social circle. I wonder if we can have such discretion when it comes to reality mining.
I browsed the web to gather more information, but I still wasn't clear on whether information obtained through reality mining can be used without an individual's permission or if there is an option to opt out...anyone know? Securely utilizing this information for the betterment of mankind is one thing, but opening up the doors to more abuse of personal information is another.
Business week came out with an article last march entitled There's Gold in 'Reality Mining'
(http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080323_387127.htm) so apparently the business gurus are on board....I probably should try to get on the bandwagon because it looks like reality mining is here to stay. But for now, I'm still on the fence...
Minus the Wonk
14 years ago
I did a search to see if I could find the answer to your question about whether or not this sort of information could be tracked without an individual's consent. I found the following blog post:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/reality_mining.php
The author cites an interview with Sandy Pentland, another MIT researcher (man, these MIT folks have this market cornered huh???), and Sandy says there are two rules that must be followed in ordered for reality mining to work:
1. There must be an opt-out (or opt-in) option. 2. Aggregate data must be anonymized
Thanks Kristen for the info. That's a bit comforting to know!
ReplyDeletethe great thing about facebook when it initially came out was that it was exclusive to just one group...college students...
ReplyDeletenow it's open to everybody but the kitchen sink it seems which has caused it to become very mainstream and open more to the public. i think this will cause more and more profiles to become more discrete as time goes on...