Privacy Flash Point
July 23, 2008
When I speak with professional groups, I dance around the issue of “smart software”. The idea is that scripts do more than handle situations as a zero or one, white or black, on or off. The computers are binary, but programmers have numerous methods for helping a script deal with ambiguity.
One of the ways is to know what a single user or a group of users who share characteristics actually do. Looking at what a person does nine times out of ten times makes it easy to tell a script, “When this person takes this action, you take that action.”
The key to making this type of “smart software” work is data. The more data one has about an individual or a group of like-acting individuals, then the easier it is to cook up simple rules. The script runs the actions. When a decision is needed, the script looks at the usage data and makes a decision.
Endeca can integrated saved queries into a work flow. When the sales person reaches a particular point in a selling script, the Endeca system runs the query and displays the information based on a combination of rules and looking at some data about what sells, what product returns the largest commission, or some other factor.
Again, the key is rules and data.
The rules are tedious to set up and test. But once in place, the real nourishment for smart software is data. But most users are themselves unaware of what actions they take when using a computer. If I remind a user that email can be analyzed for syntactical fingerprints, friends, and insight into the preferences of the user, people are shocked. This amazes me.
Closed doors–that is, privacy–are tough to live behind in an online world.
I was thinking about this issue and privacy because the current issue of KMWorld, a tabloid published by Information Today, arrived via snail mail this afternoon. My monthly column was no more. In the July August 2008 issue, my column had become a feature story, “Cloud Computing and the Issue of Privacy”, pages 14, 15, and 22. The highlight of the story is a graphic from one of Google’s patent documents showing an exemplary data model for usage information about an individual or a group of users. The idea is that when a person can be assigned to a cluster based on some discovered similarity, probability methods make it trivial to “predict” what most members of the group will next do or prefer. This is not magic, but it is complicated and requires a honking big computer to work when there are lots of people and many groups.
To prepare for the one or two emails I get when my for-fee articles appear, I thought it might be a good idea to see what’s online. I know a little about Google but I don’t know much beyond my little area of expertise that I hone against the whetstone of Kentucky culture.
What did I locate?
Quite a useful essay by Ray Everett-Church. His contribution to Earthweb’s information technology management Web site is “Web Ad Firm Learns People Don’t Like Spying.” I think you will find the full text of his analysis quite useful. You can find it here. The essay is lengthy and not easy for my addled goose brain to summarize. However, three points jumped out and lodged in my short term memory.
First, consumers don’t like to be spied upon unless the folks give their permission and get paid.
Second, violating privacy puts a company in a “bear trap”. Like a habit, the bear trap is easy to get into and tough to get out of.
Finally, the US government is conflicted with regard to privacy; that is, members of Congress want to support privacy yet pass laws that violate citizens’ privacy.
Mr. Everett-Church mentions a specific company, but my reading of his essay carried me to a more strategic level. The actions of a specific company are not of interest to me in this Web log essay. Instead, I want to make some observations about privacy and online usage.
- Privacy is fluid and situational. Laws and procedures cannot cover the real life situations that will make privacy change its stripes quickly and without warning.
- Individuals forget that using a computer leaves digital fingerprints and in some case interstate highways for others to follow. Perhaps more education is needed?
- Organizations with access to data want to keep the data, aggregate it, analyze it, and use the discoveries from the analyses to further the mission of the enterprise or the self.
The memory of online systems consists of usage logs. Most organizations lack the resources to make much use of these treasure chests of knowledge doubloons. Organizations with those resources have a significant advantage in today’s world. Heck, knowledge has had value throughout human history. The Portuguese knowledge of trade routes was worth a lot until fumbling lost the money machine for Portugal.
If you can get a copy of this month’s KMWorld, scan my article. I don’t want to dwell on privacy, but the connection between technology and privacy is one that merits study and further analysis. The privacy shock wave has yet to hit.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know. I am receiving one to one emails, but I prefer that you offer your comments for others, not just me.
Stephen Arnold, July 23, 2008
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