My Digital FootPrint

Report from Spencer Stuart April 12. Interesting reading. http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/DD_Expertise__linear.pdf Boards have taken notice of the rapid pace of change and have acknowledged the importance of augmenting their ranks with executives at the forefront of these technology advancements. As companies increase their investments in digital technologies and social media and mobile platforms, more boards are looking to recruit "digital directors." According to the 2011 Spencer Stuart Board Index , demand for directors with digital or technology backgrounds has increased more than 20 percent in the past year. For individuals possessing the requisite understanding of the digital landscape, opportunities in the boardroom are at an all-time high.

    Verified tags As we have seen before, conferred identity (for example, a driving licence) can be used instead of the primary identity. For example, conferred identity can be used to buy a range of services in the physical world (for instance you can show your driving license to buy services). In the digital world, tags / avatars etc are all a form of identity. However, they are not verified. To achieve the concept of ‘I am not a number..’ you need a verified tag. How can we verify the tag? You could use something like the Liberty alliance or similar mechanism. But that’s too ‘top down’, complex and expensive. But let us put this in perspective first; as indicated before,  A phone call is not a transaction!. The stakes are a lot less lower. In this case, rather than a full fledged approach (such as liberty alliance), which is expensive, a simpler more organic approach could suffice. This approach is based on the concept of ‘Identity = reputation’. Reputation is what others say abo

The Department of Psychology at the  University of Texas published a study that found that Facebook users are no different online than they are offline . "Manifestations of Personality in Online Social Networks: Self-Reported Facebook-Related Behaviors and Observable Profile Information" published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Unsurprisingly the study revealed strong connections between real personality and online-related behaviour. Professor Samuel D. Gosling  and his colleagues found that self-reported personality traits are accurately reflected in online social networks such as Facebook by looking at the  big five personality traits  - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. There are two studies covered in the paper Study 1 Researchers examined personality and self-reported Facebook-related behaviors. The study drew 159 participants from a psychology student study pool at Washington University in St. Louis;

This follows the story of Kaliya ( Identity Woman ) who still can't do this as her Google+ Name is still SUSPENDED!!!! and doesn't have name sovereignty. Worth reading her post on the issues Nymwars: IRL on Google's Lawns. We need to bring this struggle to Google IRL (In Real Life - physical, real world, meet space). Here is my thinking on why and my ideas about how. WHY: Even women with privileged access to Google insiders and who have real name handle combinations are not getting reinstated. Also read Steve Lockstep -- : http://lockstep.com.au/blog/2011/08/08/real-names-is-real-sly

The definition of digital footprint DATA in the following blog is used with the most all embracing and generic meaning of data which includes all raw data (collected, implicit, implied, passive or active collection); meta-data (data that defines the data, tags and attributes about the data); and information, insight, knowledge derived from analysis. I start with an assumption that all digital footprint DATA has a creator (seller) and consumer (buyer) and all DATA needs context.  The simple examples of content, you take a photo of me and share it or a transaction, I buy something; highlight a critical point, both the creator (seller) and consumer (buyer) have rights to the DATA.  There are two special cases, one where the creator and consumer is the same body and the other where there is an intermediary or third party (buy something using credit). Irrespective of the structure there may need to be an agreement/ barter/ trade about the DATA and rights. Some of these agreements

LinkedIn has  launched  the LinkedIn Connection Timeline and provides a way to remember people you used to work with throughout the years and see where they are now – how some have changed. The visualization illustrates “the tip of an iceberg” of structured social data could provide when accessible. The obvious next step is for other social graphs that show the timeline of who I connected to, when and the levels of interaction (rather link XOBNI + Memolane) Is there a model?  Brand, loyalty, discussion, marketing, viral, value – probably!

  This is driven by a thought - is there a flaw in personalisation? Most TV service providers now recognise that there is a need to incorporate recommendation as part of their content discovery mix - according to TV Genius . Depending on the provider, this can be a matter of personalising the video-on-demand store, promoting premium TV channels, or driving viewers to video-on-demand services from within the traditional EPG. All of these solutions have appeal to different demographic groups, but recent research they have conducted shows that a much broader content discovery solution is required.  After all, not every user has the same exact content discovery needs; while some viewers know exactly what they want, others are simply browsing for something new to watch.   So segmentation could look like ..... with each group having very different content discovery behaviours. 1. Socialites: Influenced by friends and family, channel surfing, and web and mobile 2. Progressives: Influenced by

Image from Life Hacker which also has a good blog on the topic of Do Not Track Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) have released  a discussion draft   “ Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011 (for the USA)." Views based on a very quick read of a bill which is intended to help safeguard kids’ privacy online, has provisions of wider interest: (1) New regulations aimed at limiting data collection about children and teens, including           (a)  expansion of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 , which would build upon COPPA’s “verifiable parental consent” model; and           (b) a new “ Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens ;” and           (c)  limits on collection of geolocation information  about both children and teens. (2)  An Internet “ Eraser Button ” for Kids  to help kids wipe out embarrassing facts they have place online but later come to regret.  Specifically, the bill would require online operators “to the extent technolog

  Trying to find a route to differentiate between pulses, waves and signals.  Next, what is the underlying data and how do they link to these….

Assuming that our data is either in our control or not then data must be part of the big digital game being played. But what are the levels of the game? At the entry level you have total control and you basic access to a service called private If we so choose we could allow others to use (not copy, take, image or cut) our data and run it through an algorithm so that we have access to the personalisation level.  No real data is given up and most things are in our control. If we want access to the volume level (effect) you must share your data but you gain access to the authority and recognition levels for your original work, but you need to be “liked” The only way to gain access to the final and highest level - the multiplier effect or celebrity status is to give up everything and risk it.

  I, along with you are creating a new cottage industry targeted at us focused on managing, or even erasing, my ‘digital footprint.’ Because I continually create a presence on new sites then promptly forget about them. Icorrect , QuickRepair , Personal , SafetyWeb and MyID.com , for example promise some form of online protection, at a price based on the fear that someone can steal your Digital Footprint, reputation, identity. The services “continuously monitor” your online presence and alert you when something occurs But is a Facebook account or your name appearing in a Google search really something to be concerned about and why should you part with some hard-earned money? Time  magazine writer Joel Stein, for one, thinks not. In  an extensive story  on the topic, Stein offered himself up as an example, having data-mining companies like RapLeaf , EXelate , and Intellidyn dig into his files, researching his own profiles with ad-targeting companies from Google to Yahoo! and paying onli

Unsurprisingly I read a lot about “digital footprints” and have several daily feeds.  Everyday there is at least one story of someone saying that they have no digital footprint as they cannot be found by their most favoured search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, AOL, RoW ). I am not surprised that so many find digital identity, footprint and reputation extremely hard concepts to grasp. Whilst we know page rank is the Google algorithm for indexing, what appears to be missing is the understanding that your own page, blog, quote, newspaper article may not be that interesting to everyone and that others do have the same name as you (I am aware of over 600 other Tony Fish’s – excluding those called Tony who own Fish and Chip shops) Just because you are not listed in Google does not mean you don’t have a digital footprint.  Indeed most of you data will be in private data silos owned by a corporate think about your loyalty card providers, your bank, your ISP or mobile phone operator.

Serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen has launched  Color , which is described as a "proximity-based social network" and has no privacy settings but think "photo-sharing app", though text and video are also supported. Color has raised $41 million in seed and Series A rounds from Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital and Silicon Valley Bank and Peter Pham, (Photobucket) is the co-founder and they have stolen LinkedIn Chief Scientist DJ Patil to lead a team. What is different: Rather than "friending" or "following", Color’s users simply post pictures and serendipity is applied as other users of the app will see pictures that the Color algorithm has determined are relevant to them. A "Color based relationship" is implicit rather than explicit. Users will see other pictures posted recently or near their current location, as well as pictures posted by other members they’ve expressed an interest in by looking at, liking or commenting on their content.  

Image : I had a flashback of something that never existed The interpretation of "Do you want the right to be forgotten?" in my mind is a war of words and misunderstandings.  On the top of one hill overlooking the battle field is a camp full of the privacy brigade who are awash with good use cases and top attention grabbing headlines. Pitched up on the other hill are the web 2.0 companies who want your data so they can offer a service for free; avoiding pay walls, annoying advertising and slow death.  In no-mans land are the regulators and the battle is being watched by us as aware, but not really caring participants, who have a live stream and a back channel for those who happen to want to voice an opinion on the current trending social media platform.  This is different topic  to the "do not track me" debate .   So what do we (I) actually want..... A right - "something that affords me some kind of protection"   The Wiki definition is better A

Image : I had a flashback of something that never existed The interpretation of "Do you want the right to be forgotten?" in my mind is a war of words and misunderstandings.  On the top of one hill overlooking the battle field is a camp full of the privacy brigade who are awash with good use cases and top attention grabbing headlines. Pitched up on the other hill are the web 2.0 companies who want your data so they can offer a service for free; avoiding pay walls, annoying advertising and slow death.  In no-mans land are the regulators and the battle is being watched by us as aware, but not really caring participants, who have a live stream and a back channel for those who happen to want to voice an opinion on the current trending social media platform.  This is different topic  to the "do not track me" debate .   So what do we (I) actually want..... A right - "something that affords me some kind of protection"   The Wiki definition is better A

Image from http://completeinnovator.com/2010/08/25/6-secrets-to-corporate-authentict/ The start of this thought was that a while back Facebook started to offer a service that allows you to comment on a blog post, such as this, using Facebook. Plus side is make it easy to collect comments and gain engagement as not everyone has a Blogger, WordPress, Disquss or other commenting login or can be bothered with the unique logins every time to comment. Or is happy to hide. Downside is control by Facebook and using dominant position to force players out of the market (think Microsoft bundling browser) which is one side, but the other side is the possibility of a single identity.  The shift here is from the identity we are given by our company/ government/ network or bank (many and in silos) to the one your parents gave you and your professional attitude. There is plenty to read on this topic …. Stowe Boyd , GigaOm , Kaliya , Identity commons , Scoble , Jeff Jarvis The observation is t

Dirty Data is a term used when referring to inaccurate information or data collected during capture.  Dirty data can be misleading, incorrect, without generalised formatting, incorrectly spelled or punctuated, entered into the wrong field or duplicated. Dirty data can be prevented using input masks or validation rules, but completely removing such data from a source can be impossible or impractical There are several causes of dirty data. In some cases, the information is deliberately distorted. A person may insert misleading or fictional personal information which appears real. Such dirty data may not be picked up by an administrator or a validation routine because it appears legitimate. Duplicate data can be caused by repeat submissions, user error or incorrect data joining. There can also be formatting issues or typographical errors. A common formatting issue is caused by variations in a user's preference for entering phone numbers. The reason for looking at this topic was

Much has already been written about the Nokia Microsoft strategic alliance for use of the Windows Phone OS for Nokia handsets and what great timing ahead of Mobile World Congress this week and as a follow-up to the Burning Platform memo. Opinions range across mud slinging from fan boys, heretics and doom mongers; few outspoken and a some considerate, thoughtful and strategic. Therefore, this piece is about what the announcement did not say as my instinct says there is a wider strategic issue that is worth considering.  There is a third way to view the alliance announcement beyond defence against Google and Apple and I highlight an alternative scenario in this Viewpoint. 140 character Summary Nokia/ MSFT don't need to have the best OS, UI or UX as there is value in being the provider of Payment, Identity, Location & Reputation. Help The alliance has also forced me to think about what market research to focus on in March/ April.  Please can you take 2 minutes to answer 10 que

previous infographic   When you cross this line - your data is out of your control [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOUu1fldBbI]