Tracking

Category: When Analytics Works

As (Cavoukian, 2013:23) writes, "it is one thing to be seen in public. It is another to be tracked by the state." The same could be said about tracking by advertising agencies, bill collectors, competitors, and stalkers. Analytics, however, makes tracking accessible to everyone. "Miniature surveillance drones, unseen digital recognition systems, and surreptitious geolocational monitoring are readily available, making long-term surveillance relatively easy and cheap" (Ibid).

Critics argue that tracking is "creepy" and can be used against unsuspecting victims. "The trick is in taking this data and shacking up with third-parties to help them come up with new ways to convince you to spend money, sign up for services, and give up more information. It would be fine if you decided to give up this information for a tangible benefit, but you may never see a benefit aside from an ad, and no one's including you in the decision" (Princiya, 2018). According to Kelly 92019), Google, ClassDojo and E-Hallpass say in their privacy policies that student data is not shared with third-party companies for marketing or advertising. But the Cambridge Analytica scandal (Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison, 2018) shows that bad actors may distribute this data nonetheless.

Tracking is also described as "intrusive" and critics argue that (say) workplace tracking violates a person's right to privacy. The Canadian Privacy Commissioner says "If an employer's collection, use or disclosure of personal information about employees is not one that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, it will violate the norms set out in the legislation" (OPCC, 2008). But tools like Cookies RFID chips are always present and can fade into the background, creating the opportunity to unobtrusively collect much more data than needed.

Examples and Articles

Smartphone Tracking Data And Artificial Intelligence Turn Peopleâ€™s Movements Into Detailed Insights And Profits
"Cosmose AI gathers anonymized mobile phone data including user IDs, location info, and more from more than 1 billion smartphones, more than 400,000 apps, 360,000 stores and then shares insights about consumer behavior with some of the world's biggest brands." Forbes, Bernard Marr, October 7, 2020 Direct Link

SysKit Manager
Application usage information for each user/employee/student on your server Direct Link

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