My Digital FootPrint

http://smartgridcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/SGCC-Myths-vs.-Facts-Fact-Sheet.pdf The Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) recently published a fact sheet and released a web video to refute privacy and data security critiques of smart meter technology. SGCC is a non-profit that seeks “to advance the adoption of a reliable, efficient, and secure smart grid.” Its membership includes electric utility and technology companies, universities, government agencies, and environmental advocacy groups. Privacy and data security concerns have led some consumers to oppose the installation of smart meters, and even inspired lawsuits in states such as Maine and Illinois. SGCC’s recently published materials suggest that many of these concerns are based on “myths” and “urban legend.”

Loving listing to the Example this morning - 'Changed The Way You Kiss Me' ( Official Video) But it makes me think…. I have this idea that your digital footprint (data) can tell me everything about you (and me), well eventually.  If all your yummy digital data is captured and we have the algorithm it could predict what is going on and even what will happen.  So this song raises an interesting question; When you Change The Way You Kiss someone – did you know, do they know, does the matrix know or was I able to predict it?  Behavioural economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational , uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions and therefore maybe we can – but does this idea take away some aspect of us being human?

Further comments to the post of facial recognition earlier today http://blog.mydigitalfootprint.com/facial-recognition-is-it-part-of-my-digital-f And other comments on the blog here http://blog.mydigitalfootprint.com/?sort=&search=facial So the short version is that you can take a picture of someone, use the image to search images on say Facebook, match the two images using some sort of facial recognition algorithm and therefore find out someone's name (given the match and the different database entries).  This would apply even for someone just walking down the street, or tracking them where they walked, find you where they live and any other data.... shock.  It simple terms it is allowing databases to be paired to create value or make it really creepy. Test cases prove it all works but they use data that was "selective" to make it quicker, but the reality is here and these services will be rolled out and you will be identified without being asked from your ID,

BusinessWeek  reports  on retailers’ use of RetailNext camera surveillance software to glean intelligence from shoppers’ behaviour.  The software takes a video feed to analyze customer behaviour.  RetailNext  is a real-time in-store monitoring, enabling retailers and manufacturers to collect, analyze and visualize in-store data.”  RetailNext’s software can integrate data from hardware such as RFID chips and motion sensors to track customers’ movements.  The company explains that it “tracks more than 20 million shoppers per month by collecting data from more than 15,000 sensors in retail stores.”  Its service apparently helps stores figure out where to place certain merchandise to boost sales.  3VR is used by T-Mobile to track how people move around their stores, how long they stand in front of displays, and which phones they pick up and for how long.  3VR is testing facial-recognition software that can identify shoppers’ gender and approximate age.   Radical point: facial recognit

So it is reported that Amazon is guessing your faith/ religion from your gift wrap choice. Whilst Amazon is already the best at mining your data for recommendation and behavioural insights based on for shopping habits, location, music taste and who influence you – this one is an interesting slant.  But what to they do with it, unless it helps with improving the recommendation and removing certain titles that could be offensive. The question is therefore not about privacy but about who has the rights to filter what I see. This was explored at length in The Filter Bubble By Eli Pariser and whilst I did not agree with the entire book, the idea of someone’s code (and ethics) being my filter does worry me .

What can you do with data if you can collect it… Acceleration, Vibration, Motion/Velocity/Displacement, Position/ location, Proximity, Pressure, Force/Strain/Load/Torque, Vertical Height above sea level, Sea/land motion activity, Movement Water levels, Leaks, Chemical/Gas, Odour, Pollution, Biological process, Flow, Temperature/ heat production, Humidity/Moisture, Air pressure Sound/ Ultrasound, Electric, Light, Solar intensity, Magnetic, Background noise, Signals Images, Video, What is near by (saying hello), Routes and routines, key strokes, downloads, usage, content, http://www.societyofrobots.com/sensors.shtml

  source : http://www.adexchanger.com/

Source : http://smartdatacollective.com/wearecloud/40960/world-data-infographic?utm SOURCES: Cisco; comscore; MapReduce, Radacti Group; Twitter; YouTube A collaboration between GOOD and  Oliver Munday , in collaboration with IBM.

Roger Grimes posted a very insightful blog about reuse of user ID and passwords, with the usual sprinkling of fairy dust and FUD to create sales for security experts, however it co-insides with Microsoft publishing some data about the reuse of passwords on different web sites and a very good research paper from INRIA in France which asked “ How unique and traceable are usernames ” Essentially can identities established on multiple web sites be linked together based on the usernames to recreate an “identity” and what are the implications for privacy?  INRIA experiment looked at over 10 million usernames from popular services such as Google and eBay. In some of the tests, Google profiles that listed multiple accounts on different web services were used to establish “ground truth” about linked usernames. The first finding was that the usernames chosen by people on the various websites tend to be very unique, with a probability of duplication being approximately one in one billion. Thi

Roger Grimes posted a very insightful blog about reuse of user ID and passwords, with the usual sprinkling of fairy dust and FUD to create sales for security experts, however it co-insides with Microsoft publishing some data about the reuse of passwords on different web sites and a very good research paper from INRIA in France which asked “ How unique and traceable are usernames ” Essentially can identities established on multiple web sites be linked together based on the usernames to recreate an “identity” and what are the implications for privacy?  INRIA experiment looked at over 10 million usernames from popular services such as Google and eBay. In some of the tests, Google profiles that listed multiple accounts on different web services were used to establish “ground truth” about linked usernames. The first finding was that the usernames chosen by people on the various websites tend to be very unique, with a probability of duplication being approximately one in one billion. Thi

Roger Grimes posted a very insightful blog about reuse of user ID and passwords, with the usual sprinkling of fairy dust and FUD to create sales for security experts, however it co-insides with Microsoft publishing some data about the reuse of passwords on different web sites and a very good research paper from INRIA in France which asked “ How unique and traceable are usernames ” Essentially can identities established on multiple web sites be linked together based on the usernames to recreate an “identity” and what are the implications for privacy?  INRIA experiment looked at over 10 million usernames from popular services such as Google and eBay. In some of the tests, Google profiles that listed multiple accounts on different web services were used to establish “ground truth” about linked usernames. The first finding was that the usernames chosen by people on the various websites tend to be very unique, with a probability of duplication being approximately one in one billion. Thi

Google Latitude  history is either very interesting or very scary.  In "my digital footprint" I wrote about an idea for a security application where a phone would close applications and services as you drifted off your normal routine based on history and location. Further it would also seek to find friends and contacts as additional support. The latitude dashboard lets you see some graphs of how much time you spend at work, home, and out and about, and a list of your most visited places. You can also see a Google Map with your 500 latest updates added as pushpins.  From the dashboard, you can export your history of location updates as a KML file. It does ask you to opt in, and it doesn't share your location history with anyone. There is no doubt that it is a bit creepy as it gives step-by-step views of where you have been and even knows how many total miles I've travelled. You will love the little feature that explains how many miles you have travelled in terms o

Google Latitude  history is either very interesting or very scary.  In "my digital footprint" I wrote about an idea for a security application where a phone would close applications and services as you drifted off your normal routine based on history and location. Further it would also seek to find friends and contacts as additional support. The latitude dashboard lets you see some graphs of how much time you spend at work, home, and out and about, and a list of your most visited places. You can also see a Google Map with your 500 latest updates added as pushpins.  From the dashboard, you can export your history of location updates as a KML file. It does ask you to opt in, and it doesn't share your location history with anyone. There is no doubt that it is a bit creepy as it gives step-by-step views of where you have been and even knows how many total miles I've travelled. You will love the little feature that explains how many miles you have travelled in terms o

Google Latitude  history is either very interesting or very scary.  In "my digital footprint" I wrote about an idea for a security application where a phone would close applications and services as you drifted off your normal routine based on history and location. Further it would also seek to find friends and contacts as additional support. The latitude dashboard lets you see some graphs of how much time you spend at work, home, and out and about, and a list of your most visited places. You can also see a Google Map with your 500 latest updates added as pushpins.  From the dashboard, you can export your history of location updates as a KML file. It does ask you to opt in, and it doesn't share your location history with anyone. There is no doubt that it is a bit creepy as it gives step-by-step views of where you have been and even knows how many total miles I've travelled. You will love the little feature that explains how many miles you have travelled in terms o

Google Latitude  history is either very interesting or very scary.  In "my digital footprint" I wrote about an idea for a security application where a phone would close applications and services as you drifted off your normal routine based on history and location. Further it would also seek to find friends and contacts as additional support. The latitude dashboard lets you see some graphs of how much time you spend at work, home, and out and about, and a list of your most visited places. You can also see a Google Map with your 500 latest updates added as pushpins.  From the dashboard, you can export your history of location updates as a KML file. It does ask you to opt in, and it doesn't share your location history with anyone. There is no doubt that it is a bit creepy as it gives step-by-step views of where you have been and even knows how many total miles I've travelled. You will love the little feature that explains how many miles you have travelled in terms o

Business Models My digital footprint , as defined in this book, is about the system of collection, storage, analysis and value. The inputs to the system have focused on data types that can be collected as the user is willing to provide the data (explicit/active) and data that can be gathered by sensor.net (passive/automatic). It has already been stated that there is little value in the long run in collection (harvesting) and storing (regulated). There are possibly a few expectations to this, which are data types that are slow to replicate and can create a differential advantage by having/owning. There is a lot of value in the algorithm and good analysis tool. The understanding of value creation opportunities from analysis will create differential advantage. The outputs or value components are well understood in terms that they can be seen to create value. Additional value is created from the feedback loop as this provides a method to hone, focus and provide depth on respo

Extract from “My Digital Footprint”, this is from the Chapter 6  “A two sided business model"   Be under no illusion that this (creating a virtuous circle) is either simple or easy. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, said when commenting on Beacon: “We’ve made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we’ve made even more with how we’ve handled them. We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologise for it.” This was in response to the 70,000 users on Facebook responding to Facebook’s new Ad and Beacon features in December 2007. The Facebook Ad followed a well-trodden path of purchase goods, PIN codes, getting free extras online. Fun and not a big fuss, Beacon, however, was different. Beacon would look at what you do and as such has deep roots in behavioural marketing based on targeting (open loop); however, it took your data and told your friends what you had done, really without any due care or thought. If you looked at someone’s profile, it told y

Here's the rub with Digital Footprint ideals..... Digital Footprints are about gathering data from many different sources, the three primary ones are:- 1. Data and information that you leave in the web (content under your control) 2. Data and information that others leave about you in the web (content out of your control) 3. Analysis of your and others data and information about you. Data and information that you leave should be factual (clicks, buttons, content, blogs, usage, attention, location etc) Data and information that others leave could be factual. Interpretation of data about you will be biased on the needs of the person who wants the analysis.  Supermarkets have different needs to Government, which is different to what Google or Facebook does. Like in the real world, in a digital world Truth and Facts are probably not related.  Anything is predictable from your data but that does not make is probable.    

Today I presented at the BCS privacy day , following me was David Birch and David Lund from EnCoRe  #bcsprivacy It occurred to me during the presentations that keeping all data makes everything factual in the future.  Apparently we want control, traceability and evidence.  How much of this requirement (to keep all data) is this driven because we can collect and store it or because someone has sat down and done the analysis that says that there is real value in doing so? (ignoring the fact that Government wants to do it, however WikiLeaks could change that thinking as well) I believe that there is an important and deeply human characteristic which is story telling.  To tell a story, that you remember and pass on, requires that you are allowed to have some leeway or ability to ad-lib as the real story becomes a slow evolution to the moral.   Providing a lame excuse would be very dull if everyone had all the facts, why should we store everything and what real value will i

My free Metro this AM carried a story about Facebook being a threat to the Internet and the register is running a similar story   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/20/berners_lee_says_facebook_a_thret_to_web/ based on an Interview in Scientific American journal. It appears that Sir Tim Berners-Lee (read Open Web) is hitting out at all social networks for not sharing information.  "Facebook and others encourage users to enter their information ... So the more you enter, the more you become locked in,’ says Sir Tim  'The more this kind of architecture gains widespread use, the more the web becomes fragmented – and the less we enjoy a single, universal information space. The threat to Internet freedom comes from enclosing data in corporate-governed online spaces – such as ‘apps’ – instead of linking pages fluidly and allowing knowledge to transcend businesses and borders. ‘You can access an iTunes link only using Apple’s patented iTunes programme,’ said Sir Tim, who