What is your digital footprint worth? Did you know you have one?
Your search history is part of it of course, but most of us are shocked when we actually go in and look at what data Google captures on us. Examples beyond search history include location data that captures the store you visited, purchase data “do you use Google Pay/Apple Pay”, where you went, much of what you did or bought and what photos you took doing it. Not to mention the meta-data associated with all that activity which includes how long you took to go from here to there, what mode of transport, where you stopped and higher order associations like how often you do that same thing every Monday such as visit that location (the gym). Facebook has an even more detailed picture than Google. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, called it their “Social Web” years ago when they tried to go one step deeper by introducing a free email address @facebook.com for all its users. It must have been just too many eggs in one basket for most of us as that service seems to have largely disappeared. Besides, Google already owned that service with GMail but Facebook’s advantage remains their knowledge of who we are connected to, which of those people we interact most with, and most importantly who those people are also connected to.
That Social Web is a surprisingly detailed picture of our activity and interests, and it’s power is regularly demonstrated by both the predictive nature of what these giant tech platforms recommend to us as well as the nefarious forces paying to influence our views. The Cambridge Analytica scandal shined a light on the power of the Social Web in the aftermath of Brexit, the 2016 US election and a variety of other lesser known anomalies. Aside from the interests of Russia, Brexiteers or whatever the source was that wanted to support a particular view, it has become clear that great swathes of people can and are being influenced through Facebook feeds and tailored websites designed to deliver specific content. The torrent of fake news or opinion based “articles” appears to be far too much for Facebook to monitor or moderate. Many thousands of humans were hired to apply judgement and AI algorithms may eventually get smart enough to take over but where do they draw the line between a strong opinion and an organized campaign. Either way, it is all derived from the digital footprint Google and Facebook are monetizing – turning it into billions of advertising revenue.
Google has begun to encourage us to look up what data they are capturing, providing glimpses in certain circumstances so we become accustomed to this relationship in which we are exchanging our data, our Digital Footprint, for the conveniences of their platform. Every once in a while when a Google map sends you a pop up with a question about a store or restaurant you just visited they may ask if you want to review that place. The review has some value to them but Google is also letting us know explicitly they are capturing that data. In time they will begin to reveal more, slowly getting us comfortable with the deal we have implicitly agreed to – the maps, directions and recommendations we get and use are generated by our own activity. Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. all package that up for advertisers to deliver well-targeted ads all the while honing, sharpening and improving the accuracy of the data assembled on each person.
Advertising has gone mostly digital now [Insert: stat on digital vs. traditional advertising – pie graph]. Just think of how often you actually sit through an ad on TV or listen to one on the Radio. The wealthiest, most desirable consumers stream and pay for subscriptions to content that used to be funded by ads and in that way have become increasingly difficult to reach through traditional means. That makes targeted digital ads in a variety of forms one of the most effective and one of the only remaining sources of ads some of us see. And it can get a little creepy. You don’t have to ask many people to uncover an example of someone who visited a website, sent an email or text, or even spoke about a product near a smart phone only to discover that product immediately recommended to them. One of my buddies showed me an image sent to him by his son via text. It was for a car part to modify the son’s vehicle. “Hey Dad, just in case you were looking for a gift idea…” Photo (not a link) attached.
This product has a 50 character alphanumeric serial number as a reference. Moments after receiving that text from his son my buddy opens Amazon to look for it only to find it comes up as the first recommendation. Not after today’s deals, etc. Literally the first thing on the screen the moment the Amazon app was opened. Think about that for a moment. This car part is so specific it must be referenced with a long serial number because multiple versions of it exist: with the flange, without the gasket, etc. And Amazon got that out of an image sent via text. Trying to figure out how this happened, we isolated the fact that the Dad is connected to this son in several ways but importantly as the son’s recovery email for his GMail account. That could help explain how Amazon sourced this recommendation but ultimately the image was sent via text, not in an email so it remains a mystery. But it does demonstrates how information from our Digital Footprint drives recommendations in a remarkably complex manner.
With Tech Titans like Zuckerberg answering questions in front of Congress – again – and European officials circling in on how to regulate Google, the conversation quickly turns to “solutions”. Do we break up the giant tech platforms or regulate them? Do we force them to separate one part of their business in order to preserve the integrity of our privacy? Or can we find another answer.
One path I advocate is for each individual to become empowered with the undisputed ownership of their own Digital Footprint. That is a start. From there we can at least establish a mechanism for individuals to see and understand the entirety of their Digital Footprint so we can choose if we want it to be monetized in exchange for the many conveniences of the Google, Facebook, Amazon and other platforms. Or not. Those who have a desirable footprint can become better at optimizing it just as many do already when operating as a micro-influencer (or a professional influencer like a Kardashian). Today’s influencers would become more empowered but those who choose to opt-out of being monetized may only have access to a limited “free” version of Facebook or more ads when using a Google service like Maps or GMail. Plenty of creative solutions are available and bringing all your data together in one aggregated place makes it even more valuable to the platforms you use because it becomes a holistic picture. The combination of Google browsing and location data with Facebook’s Social Web and Amazon’s purchase options not to mention Apple’s iTunes selections enable an even more valuable dossier. Throw in some phone records and perhaps a carefully worded survey that helps fill in additional personal details and this new App is unbeatable. Like an indexed library of everything about you that is constantly updated, we’ll call this new tool Curator.
Leveraging the full Digital Footprint with data from multiple sources, Curator will be valuable to advertisers and others. But it must be trusted. Digital Ledger Technology or Blockchain is likely the best way to achieve trust and it is necessary. Far more than advertisers, governments and law enforcement may want to see our Curated Digital Footprint which is why it would only make sense if each individual truly owns their own data. And that means each individual owning the data the Tech Titans collects on us. If we do achieve this important goal of owning our own digital footprint, the giant tech platforms will still have their own proprietary version of it via the connections and interactions their Social Web is able to identify. But we the people will maintain ownership of our own data: our Digital Footprint.
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