The Broken Window

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Broken Window

  • I just finished reading my copy of Broken window.

    I too am concerned by what could be out there.:hehe:

    I agree that there probably are companies compliling all the results of every product warranty/registrations you have completed, every survey you have responded to, every public record on you, every google link for you, and anything else that they feel might help them target you to buy something.

    I see the exagerations coming from the storage of where you are based on random machines picking up RFID tags in everything you use from books to credit cards and facial recognition software identify you from walking past a camera. While this type of information gathering could be done, I believe it is still too vast to perform for everyone, but certainly buying preferences and other information about you is collected daily. I would also say the predictive software is a bit far fetched. It might be able to spot patterns such as every Tuesday you stop at a book store and buy another copy of Broken Window, but accurately predicting what you do and where you go seems far fetched. If they can predict that, they should predict the winning numbers for the lottery and retire.

    I also would hope that a data collection place would never have the ability to update records for payments, etc at your utility, or loan office. Why should they. They might ruin your credit rating, but they should never be able to say you haven't paid your electric bill and get the electric company to shut off your power.

    I enjoyed the book. It was eyeopening and definitely more believeable to me than 1984. It does cause me to ask, "What do I want companies and the world to know about me?"

    Brian

  • While I'm sure there are companies that do this, the book shows the danger in this and provides a great argument for companies not being able to outsource this function. While it's unlikely that one company would ever hold the monopoly that's portrayed in the book...

    google.

  • That's a scary thought. Google has a lot of information about you, but it isn't necessarily related. With their API, I suppose some of it could be mined.

    Definitely a good argument to prevent robots from crawling around your intranet.

  • Interestingly enough, I did a search for purchasing habits right here on SQL Server Central.com and came up with this hit:

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Miscellaneous/sqlserverstatisticalfunctions/1255/

    An article on SQL Server Statistical Functions and the author states:

    "The techniques [in the article] did work well on examining the characteristics and purchasing habits of customers."

    Just an interesting little fact.

  • Steve,

    When do you find time to read fiction? Seems as if I get about 15-20 minutes just before sleep to read. Maybe I should find a copy are force myself to take the time to read it.

    Too many things all going too fast!:(

    Miles...

    Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

  • I haven't read Broken Window, but that data mining company in the book sounds like a data aggregator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_aggregators; companies that compile data of individuals from various sources, such as public records and criminal databases.

    Although SQL ServerCentral is worldwide, the following information is specific to the US.

    One company that is not very well known is Acxiom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acxiom.

    Another company that got a lot of unwelcome publicity is ChoicePoint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint.

    Both companies have experienced data security breaches.

    These companies and others are used often in the employment process. I read an article on MSNBC where data aggregators have gotten information from criminal court and never bothered to update information. When you have a job riding on prescreening, it would great if errors did not cause you to be excluded from consideration.

    According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers are supposed to tell you of negative reports and the service that was used is supposed to provide a free report in the US. But I wonder how often that occurs.

    Identity theft is one reason for inaccuracy with the data aggregators, but some errors occur when the source, such as a court, corrects information that was retrieved. But the aggregators frequently don't go back to poll the source for corrections and update their reports.

    The data that Acxiom and ChoicePoint provide to employers is less than accurate from this study on data quality that I found: http://www.privacyactivism.org/docs/DataAggregatorsStudy.html

    Data Aggregators:

    A Study of Data Quality and Responsiveness

    From MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814673/:

    The secret list of ID theft victims

    Consumers could be warned, but U.S government isn't talking

    Find out what these companies are saying about you: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6678137/

    What are these companies saying about you?

    Consumers now get free peek at 'specialty' reporting agencies

  • Take a look at Cory Doctrow's Little Brother[/url], his latest book about a terrorist attack in San Francisco. Talks a lot about identification and tracking through gait analysis, RFID surveillance, etc. Best of all, all of his books can be downloaded free from his web site, and he's a good writer. I particularly recommend Eastern Standard Tribe and Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom.

    You might learn about my shopping habits by looking at Albertson’s data warehouse, you’d learn what I typically buy and how much I pay, but I’m not sure how valuable that is at the individual level. At the aggregate level I can see value by knowing when seasonal purchasing trends change and being able to place your orders in anticipation of that. It would be easy enough to determine my whereabouts, overall, as I’m a part-time student and will be on campus three days a week. Do you need data mining to determine that? Not particularly, sounds a lot of work when a week of surveillance and asking at the university will tell you that.

    In Phoenix, I worked with some friends monkey-wrenching a grocer’s loyalty program: we had several people of both genders and multiple ages, some single and some married, some with kids, making purchases with the same phone number. If someone happened to get a discount coupon from it, random luck of the draw, good for them.

    But don’t think because you don’t use a loyalty card that a grocer, or anyone else, can’t assemble DW info on you. There’s nothing preventing them from storing a hash of your credit card info (run it through a SHA algorithm and you’ll get a sufficiently unique value) that is computationally unreasonable to reverse, and you can easily identify an individual’s buying habits, even if you might not be able to directly tie an identity to that data. Thus they have an identifier and are technically not storing your credit card information, so they're not jeopardizing their PCI compliance.

    If you don't want to participate in their data store, pay with cash and never use loyalty programs. Your purchases will still be aggregated, but they can't be tied to a single person. (until they tie facial and gait recognition into the system....) :w00t:

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    [font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]

  • Ralph Hightower (9/16/2008)


    ...These companies and others are used often in the employment process. I read an article on MSNBC where data aggregators have gotten information from criminal court and never bothered to update information. When you have a job riding on prescreening, it would great if errors did not cause you to be excluded from consideration.

    According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers are supposed to tell you of negative reports and the service that was used is supposed to provide a free report in the US. But I wonder how often that occurs. ...

    That would be nice to know. There have been many times that I was very confident that I nailed the interview and should have gotten the job and then did not, often never hearing a word from them. You just have to wonder if something weird turned up when they were doing record searches of me.

    Many years ago, LONG before data aggregation hit its stride (heck, relational database wasn't long out of the lab at that point) I got pulled over because my running lights were out. My car had some electrical problems, the dash lights went out, but the head lights worked, so I assumed the running lights were OK. Cop is running my ID while I poke at wires under the dash, running lights came on. He came back and asked "Do you know a so-and-so West?" I tell him no, my dad had no brothers and it's just him, my brother and me. He tells me that so-and-so is wanted for desertion from the military and matches my basic description, except he's 6'4" and I'm much taller (and much better looking, just kidding on one or both parts), so if I ever get pulled over and the cop pulls his gun, that's probably why.

    Current information is such a nice thing! I had an ex-girlfriend who wanted to trade in her car and get a new one, her credit report said she was paying for three different cars at the same time! Her credit union never notified the credit bureaus that she had traded in previous cars! It's frightening how much blind faith people put in such data sources, such as the recent case of an immigration court denying asylum to a foreigner based on a WIKIPEDIA ENTRY. You'd think an immigration judge would have a little more sense, but apparently not.

    Too many people are of the opinion that "The computer says it, I believe it, that settles it."

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    [font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]

  • I make time to read all the time. Often 10 minutes here and there throughout the day, while eating lunch, waiting for kids, etc. I probably get in 30-60 minutes a day somehow. Just a habit. And a needed break.

    I got pulled over years ago, and as you can imagine, there's a warrant out for a Jones in every county in the country. There was actually a couple this time, all same first/last, but different middle, and different license numbers. The officer kept asking me if I'd lived here or there, or owned this car, probably 3 or 4 times. Almost like he didn't believe me.

    Crazy.

  • Well, Steve, it's your fault I didn't get much sleep last night. Based on your recommendation, I requested The Broken Window from my public library back in September when you originally posted the editorial. It finally came in a week ago (I was 95th on the request list at the time) and I really got into it this week.

    Last night, I read for about an hour before bed, getting about halfway through the novel. At about 10:45, the dog started barking. My wife said she thought she heard the front door open. So, I got out of bed to make sure the 19 year-old hadn't decided to go out for a drive. Nope, front door is locked and the car is still in the driveway.

    I've decided that reading creepy murder mysteries for an hour before bed is not a good idea, as I kept waking up thinking the murderer (whoever it is) was in the house.

    So, thanks a lot for the recommendation. 😛

    Merry Christmas, anyway!


    Steve Eckhart

  • Glad you liked it. It's definitely creepier for the database guys.

    Merry Christmas!

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