Jen Berman

Hi Jen! Great points here! I think you ask a lot of great questions, and I think your point to how companies are unaware how making a new platform, device, or application can change what happens to the information collected is key. Nowadays, it is easy to collect information throughout the purchasing process- phone, email, name, address, etc. but it’s only now that people and companies are questioning how/why/where to collect data as data security breaches happen across the nation. Though after the initial purchase, it may seem to be an asset for a company to keep a customer’s information to use for internal (or external) marketing purposes, but as we’ve seen today, this may actually be more of a risk than an asset (like the Twitter hack or the Marriott breach). Companies may want to start pitching themselves as a company that doesn’t collect information, and instead as a gatekeeper to their privacy by making sure their information wasn’t saved by them or any 3rd party site.

Great article Jen. It makes you wonder how Lowes could use our data stored in the profile and create target marketing for products that they put on sale or need to promote. If they have our mail address and/or email, they could easily capitalize on this. When 4th of July comes around and they know I already bought a grill a couple months prior, they could send me an email highlighting grill accessories to get prepared for the upcoming holiday. I wonder if anyone does this to the extent I am mentioning? Hmmmm.

Another thought that came to mind, I wonder how the credit card companies are using our spending data to market to us or even sell the data to 3rd parties. I doubt the 3rd party selling is happening from the credit card companies but I guess it’s possible. Then 3rd parties would then be able to target specific marketing content based on your buying habits. This in one reason I like to pay cash for as much as I can. I just feel like the government is watching us through every swipe we make.

Jen – this is super interesting, thank you for sharing! As someone that works for a healthcare system and a medical school, COVID was a really scary yet BUSY time for us. Of course there is data gathered by the physicians about the COVID patients – and then there is the science that our researchers are tirelessly working on to develop life-saving vaccines, but if there was a possibility that we could use AI to predict an infectious disease like this in the future, I am all for it. Like you said, the more we can use AI to be useful and life-saving the better.

Just recently, I updated my iPhone’s software, and it included COVID-19 tracking capabilities. COVID-19 tracing app uses smartphone data to prevent the spread of the virus. Being digitalized, I believe health care providers should inform consumers of this service rather than just installing this on phones. The newer models of iPhones already have COVID-19 tracing marked yes in settings. Even with tracking people, that’s somewhat of an invasion of privacy if consumers aren’t informed properly. You mention limitations, and I was thinking to help coincide with a privacy limitation would be to track using Bluetooth because it tracks proximity rather than an actual location.