[Rana hits on most of what I say here, but more clearly I think.]
I agree, there is a lot that happens in real interactions that is similar but seems much different.
First, the store clerk is limited largely to that store. The virtual world and big data is about taking all my other activities and then using that to guide how the clerk engages me in that one store. The parallel there would be having that clerk follow me around all day documenting everything I do, buy, look at....
I have more control over what information I provide the clerk. Clearly that person will know my sex/gender, approximate age and other physical traits. If they are really attentive, and able to see, they might know what type of car I drive and would be able to guess at socioeconomic status based on dress, speech and manner/demeanor. They will generally not know my name, address or approximate location, my travel habits, where I might work or my larger social circle.
Much of the information now collected is something I have no control over. For the clerk I can do any number of things to control what information I share. This is not the case in the virtual world. So, that gets me back to the “If someone did this in the real world....”
It’s not that I’m saying everything should be taken as stalking but rather it should be considered more carefully. I’ve just never really seen the issue framed as how would this look if done in the “old fashioned” shopping/commercial interaction setting. Would that change anything?
[Rana hits on most of what I say here, but more clearly I think.]
I agree, there is a lot that happens in real interactions that is similar but seems much different.
First, the store clerk is limited largely to that store. The virtual world and big data is about taking all my other activities and then using that to guide how the clerk engages me in that one store. The parallel there would be having that clerk follow me around all day documenting everything I do, buy, look at....
I have more control over what information I provide the clerk. Clearly that person will know my sex/gender, approximate age and other physical traits. If they are really attentive, and able to see, they might know what type of car I drive and would be able to guess at socioeconomic status based on dress, speech and manner/demeanor. They will generally not know my name, address or approximate location, my travel habits, where I might work or my larger social circle.
Much of the information now collected is something I have no control over. For the clerk I can do any number of things to control what information I share. This is not the case in the virtual world. So, that gets me back to the “If someone did this in the real world....”
It’s not that I’m saying everything should be taken as stalking but rather it should be considered more carefully. I’ve just never really seen the issue framed as how would this look if done in the “old fashioned” shopping/commercial interaction setting. Would that change anything?