According to Jarred Mailer-Lyons, Head of Digital at The MediaShop, while we do not know exactly what data is stored, shared and used by some of the global tech giants, we do know that consumer data is core to their multibillion dollar services they offer to the market.
The paranoia is real and if you are worried about your devices listening in to your conversations and tracking your every move then it is time to disable, de-activate and delete.
Now when I talk about deactivating and disabling, I am specifically referring to voice assistants, otherwise you may as well be living back in the Dark Ages as most of the devices and apps we use today collect some form of data in order to provide their users with the best possible experience. But have you ever noticed relevant ads emerging on sites after mentioning something in a conversation?
Like that time you were chatting to your significant other about a quick getaway over the long weekend and then ‘suddenly’ started seeing ads of accommodation, car rentals and cheap flights? Or when you were considering buying a new car and then were immediately bombarded with ads for car enthusiasts and deals on the latest versions? Is it mind boggling and just a coincidence – like when you have noticed a car you are interested in and then suddenly see every second person has one on the road – or are our phones actually listening in on our conversations?
So the real question is, are our phones allowed to be tracking literally everything we say and do? Firstly, you need to start thinking about more than just your mobile phone collecting your data or listening in on your conversations. If of course you are concerned, it is important for you to recognise just how many different kinds of sensors you have allowed into your home and office that are constantly collecting this data and listening in.
By taking a deeper look at Google’s policies and some research and methodologies around data collection, we can start understanding how and why it is collected and of course their policy around sharing this data over to third parties.
We use Google’s suite of tools so often that it is almost hard to think of as a set of products and services. According to the 2021 SA Hootsuite report, the Google search service alone was ranked as the top website locally with over 350 million visits for the month of December 2020 along with 16.5 million unique users accessing the search platform alone – that is over 43% of all users who have access to the internet in South Africa. Now that is a significant portion of the online population with only one month’s worth of data.
For me, Google is a way of life – a tool that is a solution and has a significant impact on nearly all of my daily decisions, from choosing the perfect recipe to cook for dinner to accessing my personal emails and of course searching for the nearest store that stocks that pair of sneakers I have been longing for. Whether it is the Gmail platform, where I send and receive all my emails, or the Google Maps mobile app, which I am completely dependent on to know where I am, Google has a myriad of ways of collecting our data.
From some of the articles I have read and researched over the past couple months, Google certainly collects and stores the most amount of data on their consumers by far. I am sure this does not come as a surprise as their business model relies so heavily on collecting this data and making it simple enough for you to access on the go – from identifying your precise location when using the Google Maps app to pre-empting your browsing history when typing in the URL address bar. If it is data, there is a good chance that Google is collecting it.
So, just how many different types of data sources are they actually collecting? Well, I am sure there are infinite lists which we will most likely never even get sight of, but here are a few that you would most likely have already suspected. The data around usage reports are an obvious one to include but is certainly not limited to your IP address, crash reports, system activity, date, time and referrer URL of your requests along with data about interactions between apps, browser and device type, app usage, carrier name, and last but certainly not least the operating system. There is probably nothing for you to really be worried about here unless you are doing something that you should not be doing.
But on a more personal level, they are also collecting data on your name, phone number, payment information if you have made any purchases through Google and your email address. A very sensitive, contentious and questionable data source which I always believed was part of their data collection is around content in any of the emails you have sent and received. Just when I was writing this, right at the top of my Gmail account, I came across a notification advising me that Google is in fact not collecting my personal email content data for ‘ad purposes’… but the question remains, are they collecting it for other reasons which we are potentially unaware of?
Well, that is all that we know of when it comes to the collection of personal consumer data, but apart from all that profile they are building around you as a consumer, they are also collecting and storing information about your interactions with videos, photos, documents and spreadsheets you have stored. Of course Google Search is a no brainer especially since it is such a widely used platform globally, but they are also keeping track of the videos you watch across the Google stack and the interactions you make with various pieces of content and ads. If a third-party site uses Google services, your activity is also tracked on those sites and apps.
Google is not only tracking your browsing history if you use the Chrome browser linked to a Google account but they are also keeping track of your Google calls including the collection and storing of called and received numbers, forwarding numbers, times and dates, call durations, routing info and the various types of calls. As far as location goes, Google keeps track of you via GPS and information that pings specific device sensors like Wi-Fi access points, cellphone towers or Bluetooth-enabled devices. Phew, that was a mouthful!
But aside from maintaining your services to the Google stack, they really collect your data to personalise ads and content based on your specific preferences. Google also then uses that data to measure the performance of ads and then shares that data with advertisers so they can create ads that are even more effective through their targeting and tactic opportunities. That is where our area as digital media experts really comes in.
In a conversation I had with East Coast Radio a couple weeks back, I spoke about consumers sometimes (and for me most times) ignoring T’s and C’s. When you signed up to Facebook, did you read their T’s and C’s and give your consent for them to share your data across their entire eco-system including Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp? I am sure if you use WhatsApp, you would have also recently received the latest notification within the app asking you to read and approve their latest privacy policy. I didn’t read the T’s and C’s – I just hit the submit button. I find that they are quite laborious and rather difficult to read with some very high-level legal language. Sometimes we give our uninformed consent without even acknowledging what data is being used and shared across other platforms.
There are a multitude of sensors tracking your conversations that you have most likely provided your consent to do already and that interconnection of sensors and tracking of conversations are key components for these major tech giants. They then use algorithms to pick up on keywords in conversation to better personalise your ad experience.
Now if you are anything like me and do your research before making a significant purchase, you are most likely going to consult with your family and friends (WhatsApp chats), ask your local community groups (Facebook groups), search the Google directory and then possibly go in-store before making the purchase (Google Maps). Just think about how many different data cues within each platform that you have just provided data to outside of the standard data collection points I spoke about earlier.
But can we stop our devices from knowing everything? Well it is definitely possible but it is certainly not going to be an easy task. You would need to start by looking at all the devices you have in your home – from smart TV’s to Wi-Fi enabled gaming devices and CCTV’s, even your connected doorbell is essentially collecting your data and while you would expect these devices to be used for the intended purposes, they can sometimes be abused. Then you need to go back and read all the T’s and C’s across all devices and apps you have ever downloaded. That is a big task in itself.
Obviously to remain POPI compliant, their T’s and C’s would be updated and should detail what data is being collected and of course what is being shared within their eco-systems and third parties if any. Of course, if you get through that long list without having consulted your legal dictionary and you do not necessarily agree with their T’s & C’s, then do not forget the three ‘D’ terms:
– Disable your location data and voice enabled software across all your devices (Siri, Bixby, Alexa and the like).
– Deactivate any connections to third party apps or requests for sharing of data.
– Delete any apps where you do not agree with their collection methodologies, use of, and sharing of data.
Yes, it will most likely remind you of living through the early ’90s again, but that is unfortunately the spin-off to disconnecting your data linkages to the various tech giants out there. Lastly, you need to ask yourself, is the risk of your privacy and safety worth the benefits?
When you get a new smart device or download an app, you want to have it up and running as quickly as possible. We all crave that instant gratification and so it is easy to race through the settings and agree to various types of data collection, sharing and storage, without thinking twice about it. So my suggestion is really to just stop for a minute, read through and digest the T’s and C’s and then click ‘I Agree’ if of course you do.
THE MEDIASHOP
www.mediashop.co.za
