Part 1: Data collectors making use of phones, vehicles, even heating systems
For months now, reports of the extensive data collection undertaken by the United States government have made headlines around the globe.
It’s also shone a spotlight on similar practices that are in place – or could be in place – in other parts of the world.
Here at home, Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian has called for changes to Canadian legislation in the wakes.
“You’ve got all this activity in the States. What’s happening here in Canada? A deafening silence,” she told BNN in a January interview.
While little is known about the extent of any Canadian government-sponsored online eavesdropping, information on what private companies may do with your personal data isn’t quite so hard to come by.
Cellphones can be monitored for personal likes and dislikes, as well as information on where their owner tends to go.
That’s information businesses can use to decide which potential customers to target, and how best to reach them.
David Tubbs, a Kitchener-based marketing professional, says he tries to keep abreast of who might be looking at his data – and give them few clues to work with.
“I am very conscious of all the other people out there who are looking at this, whether I’m connected to them or not,” he says of his company-issued cellphone.
But data collection now goes well beyond phones and other consumer electronics.
In some cases, even home heating systems are being tracked – after all, how warm a thermostat is set may say something about the household’s purchasing power.
“If you guess that for every action you make, there’s a data point in a database somewhere – that’s probably not far from the truth,” says Ian Goldberg, a Waterloo-based expert in internet privacy.
What is known about Canadian data collection regulations is that companies can’t make use of personal information without the consent of the person in question – although some companies bury the request for consent in lengthy terms of service agreements.
Part 2: Smartphones ground zero as retailers wage battle for your business
For some time, online retailers have been able to collect data about their customers and use it to enhance their sales and marketing efforts.
Now traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers are catching up.
Customers’ consent is required, but new technologies allow businesses of all stripes to know more than ever about how, when and where their customers shop.
A technology called near-field communication allows equipped advertising displays to pick up signals from any smartphones within 100 feet of the display.
Retailers could use that technology to see how many people stop in front of the display, for how long, and during which advertisements.
“You don’t need to know exactly who personally they are when they’re walking by,” says Douglas Lusted, co-founder of near-field communications company WestonExpressions.
Local stores haven’t gone quite that far yet, but 20 stores in Waterloo do use signs that, when tapped, can let retailers know if you’re a returning customer.
The University of Waterloo bookstore is one of them, offering customers who tap the screen and fill out a survey the chance to win a prize.
About 200 customers do so every month – far more than ever filled out the store’s paper surveys.
“It’s important for us to know (if we’re) communicating effectively with them, (if they’re) reading our displays” says May Yen, the store’s director of retail services.
While the technology isn’t widespread at this point, Lusted says it may be only a matter of time before longtime retailers decide they need a new edge in their battle with online vendors.
“The two industries are clashing, and soon you’re really going to see these retailers enhance their stores with all types of digital technology,” he says.
Right now, Yen says, the bookstore only collects students’ email addresses, and not any other personal information – not like last summer, when U.S. department store chain Nordstrom received heavy criticism for tracking its customers via their phones.
Part 3: New tools making a difference in battle against Big Data
While some people aren’t concerned about businesses tracking their customers’ spending habits, likes and dislikes and comings and goings, others see it as an unwanted invasion of privacy.
For those in the latter camp, new tools are emerging to help wage the battle against Big Data.
Dozens of new products claim to make sure that personal data isn’t being seen by anyone the person in question doesn’t want to see it.
Among them is Disconnect, which allows users to track who’s watching their online searches and, if desired, search privately.
Another piece of software, known as SympleID and created by Waterloo’s Richard Fox-Ivey, uses swipe card technology to create new, encrypted passwords every time you use your phone.
“If someone finds my smartphone, it’s of no use to them,” says Fox-Ivey.
“All my credentials are encrypted locally – and without my ID, they can’t decrypt them.”
On the other side of this battleground sit companies like Cisco, which recently committed $100 million to fund an innovation lab in Toronto.
Inside the lab, work is done on the tech giant’s ‘internet of everything’ initiative, which aims to allows all electronic devices to talk online.
“Collectively we will experiment, innovate, learn and co-create on ideas and innovations that will transform industries,” Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco Canada, said earlier this month.
As the efforts to use and block the use of personal data grow, so too do the legal issues surrounding them.
That’s where Pat Forte comes in.
The Waterloo-based lawyer specializes in looking at how companies monitor personal data.
She says employers often can’t help themselves from looking up prospective employees online – even though doing so can also put them in touch with information they don’t want, like religious beliefs and marital status.
“An employer can’t know those things about a prospective employee or their employees for the purpose of hiring,” Forte says.
As a result, Forte says, many companies are turning to third-party hiring firms who may see all that information, but only pass on the relevant bits.
