Creative Date Week 12 - Everybody Lies

I started reading Everybody Lies recently. I haven't finished every page of the book but I read most essential contents within two days. I was fascinated about the idea how author uses google search and big data analysis to reveal people's real interests, fear, frustration and secrets. Sometimes the truth makes us feel relieved: we are not the alone and we are not the only one who has this body myth, relationship problem, terrible job, unsatisfying sex, etc. But in the meanwhile, it is scary to see that how an ordinary person who don't possess any power and just works as data scientist can gather so many data easily and analyzing the data in such a detailed way. Some parts of the data freak me out. For example, he gathered the data from a person's search history. A guy who is highly uncomfortable with his own sexuality searched many different topics regarding gay and gay test on google in two days. All his search key words have been recorded even with the exact timing. It makes me feel quite uneasy about if someone right now is using my search key words to find out more about me. This actually made me feel even more embarrassed than being naked on the street. I don't want to diminish the value of this book, but at some certain point, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable about how the writer use the data to analyze people.

Then I shared this book with one of my professors, she also questioned about how this person get the access to all these detailed data and we had a short discussion around wether or not people should receive any compensation by being data exploited. She thinks the form of compensation will exploit poor people even more since they are very likely to be willing to sacrifice their privacy to get more money. Actually the concept of compensation has been put as part of my major studio's design's terms and conditions. After discussing with her, I need to rethink about this compensation idea. In my major studio, I have one term states like:"No one shall be deprived of his digital assets/remains except upon payment of just compensation, for reasons of public utility or social interest, and in the cases and according to the forms established by law." This might create some new ethic problems that I may not be able to perceive.