WOW! That Knocked the Blinders Right Off My Eyes!

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The New York Times article "How Companies Learn Your Secrets" by Charles Duhigg (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=0) that we had to read this week was a real eye opener. I had no idea that some companies collect and mine big data in that way. I had no idea that they can and do target consumers so precisely. It was really shocking and yet at the same time, it made perfect sense. As I read the article it seemed only natural that companies mine big data in this way. 

In fact, it makes such sense that I found myself wondering why I had not realized it on my own. All the signs are there. Log into Amazon. What do you see? A tempting selection of items that almost always appeal. Sign up for Safeway's Club Card. You will start receiving coupons that interest you in no time. Even if you have not signed up for Kmart's discount card, just making a purchase generates seemingly miles of coupons with your receipt. They too seem to tempt one with their spot on offers! Yes, Target is not the only one targeting specific consumers with tailor made offers. Now that I am looking for it, I realize that the behavior is ubiquitous and is not limited to retailers.

FaceBook seems to mine big data too. How else do you explain all those usually interesting ads that pop up on the right side of the screen? Google+ does it too. Heck, even Twitter does it. After I signed up for a MOOC I was suddenly getting suggestions from Twitter about who I should follow. When I do elect to follow someone, I quickly receive another email from Twitter trying to entice me to follow even more people. With FaceBook and Google+ I have found the suggestions to be interesting. With Twitter I have just found them to be overwhelming. Following too many people is like having too many cooks in the kitchen. I do not have the time to watch even a portion of their feeds and what I do follow is usually so dissociated that I usually end up all but ignoring most of the Twitter feeds.

In light of how ubiquitous big data mining is, tonight's guest speaker really got me thinking. Sure, at first blush giving every student from kindergarten through 12 grade their own iPad seems like a great idea. I wish that the college where I teach could do the same thing for our students. However, having each student create their own Apple ID through which they register their software licenses and purchase additional programs and content may not be such a good idea. When I heard that the students do not get to keep the iPad when they graduate but do get to keep the software licenses, all I could think of was how much personal data they were generating. By the time a student graduates from high school, Apple, through the data collected through the student's Apple ID, will probably know more about the student than they know about themself. 

I believe in and support putting iPads in the hands of every student. If we educators can learn how to use them to maximize their educational value, our students will truly benefit from their usage. However, if such use becomes a rich data source for companies contriving to manipulate our kids, the long term cost to our students who will be targeted by retailers and other marketers, may very well out weigh the educational benefit derived from using the iPad. 

Administrators and educators need to consider the iPad usage question from this angle. What good will it do to educate our children with iPads if doing so gives data mining companies the information required to specifically market goods and services to them just as they enter the marketplace as high school graduates? It is hard enough for adults to recognize and resist targeted marketing strategies. Our children do not stand a chance. Once the marketers can hook the kids, they will be hooked for life. We need to find a way to give these young students mobile learning technology while at the same time protecting their anonymity. 

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