Feeding the Data Machine, one Terabyte at a time.
Graeme Smith
Passionate technologist and sales leader, excited to bring Matrix IQ's award-winning products to Australia, helping businesses save money with world-class telematics and asset tracking hardware and software solutions.
If Big Data is the new oil, let's say your devices are your car and you're now subconsciously driving the car with it's accelerator stuck to the floor with no way of slowing!
I've spent the last month looking at each touch point within my life, how much data is now being held on me, and potentially on all of us through the use of cookies, automated scraping (Robots) and Data Mining.
It's no secret that everything we touch online is being tracked, but have you given a thought to how every single service or part of your life now has terabytes of data accumulated on you?
Every single one of these services is mining data to re-purpose for the benefit of their organisation (and the service to you), or to on-sell the information to other service providers or advertisers. This doesn't have to be a bad thing and in most cases it's making our lives easier; it's surely just the contract that we sign now when using a connected service.
Amazon Alexa (Echo) - pings feedback on your usage and commands within the home every three minutes
Facebook - every single like and share is tracked, every Private Message possibly viewed
Your email - Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo are all collecting vital information on you and your life
Who you hang out with - Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google, Whatsapp
Where you go via GPS tracking - your car, your phone, your smartwatch, Fitbit, Uber, dashcam, registration plate identification
What food you buy - with Woolworths and Coles tracking your every purchase to recommend discounts and promotions
What takeaway you love - Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Foodora, Domino's
Your spending habits - through your credit card provider - Quantium do it on behalf of NAB
Where you like to holiday - Trivago, Stayz, Airbnb, Hotelscombined
Finding your next home - Domain or Realestate.com.au
Where you should fly to - Webjet, Skyscanner, and most major airlines with Qantas being particularly pro-active around using your Qantas points.
To help you with the jobs around the house - Airtasker, HiPages
In what you like to watch - your Smart TV and Foxtel, Stan, Netflix
What you listen to - Alexa, Sonos, Spotify
Who you speak with most - Apple, Samsung, your mobile phone carrier, Skype, FaceTime, Whatsapp
Managing your finances and credit rating - through Equifax, Xero and the ATO
What insurance is best - Comparethemarket, Finder
Which horse to bet on - Sportsbet, TAB
Your Smart Home technology, feeding back data to your living habits. Think lights, showers, security and even down to your smart toothbrush. - Clipsal
How much you exercise - through your Smartwatch or Fitbit
How much you sleep - through your Smartwatch or Fitbit
Your next career move - through LinkedIn, Facebook Careers, Indeed and SEEK.
What you should be buying - Amazon, Ebay, Gumtree, CashRewards
Your Health Data - Medical Director, Smart Clinics, NEHTA - eHealth
Conversations being listened to - via your phone, your Smart TV or Alexa
With 90% of the worlds Data being created in just the last two years and the world using 2.5 quintillion bytes per day, is it any surprise that everything we touch is continually growing our Data footprint?