Have you ever felt as if someone is stalking you, but you have no idea who or even how to check? Fret not! By the time you finish reading this blog, you will know who is your biggest stalker.
How do stalkers even get your data?
From the moment we start going online, we are leaving digital footprints everywhere, these footprints can follow us for a lifetime! When we go online, the data on how we behave and navigate is collected, this is referred to the – Big Data. Surprise! Big data is our biggest online stalker!
What is Big Data?
Big data simply refers to collections of our online history, which basically means everything we do online. Your location, number of steps taken, browse history, interest and even the number of hours you slept can be tracked. With the advancement of technology and digitalisation these days, It is not surprising that random people are able to obtain those online histories of yours.
Marketing using IoT
IoT short form for the internet of things. It can be a great marketing tool as it connects people when they are online through all the various platforms. Over the years, IoT has changed the way we interact with other people with these gadgets to go online and IoT can tell a marketer a lot of things, such as;
- Customer’s buying habit across various platforms
- How consumers interact with products
- Customer’s buying journey
- Real-time, point of sale notifications
- Resolve issues and keep customers happy
Example
- Google know my location
These days, for convenience purposes 90% of the population keep their location turned on to use the map for directions, book a cab etc. As long as my location is turned on, Google can pinpoint my exact location.
Not only that, Google even remembers everywhere I been to, even the date of the last time I visited places such as Republic Polytechnic and Waterway Point.
Other than my activities on Facebook, Facebook also know my activities Off-Facebook example other the web pages and applications that I use frequently such as Shoppee, Carousell, Candy Crush Saga and Allkpop. This Off-Facebook activity includes information that applications shared regarding the user’s interaction.
3. Google know my YouTube watch history
As of 2019, YouTube has 2 billion users worldwide. Although Google and YouTube may be different, Google has access to all YouTube user’s watch history. Based on the history’s language and category, YouTube will be able to gauge the user’s demographics and the user’s interest. For example, based on my YouTube history, Google can predict that I am more interested in the Korean news.
4. Twitter know my interests
Not just Google and Facebook, even Twitter. Twitter know every time I watch or clicked on an advertisement. It shows the category of advertisement that I watched. By knowing these, Twitter will know what advertisements the users want to see on their feed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our digital footprints are due to big data. Hence, technically big data is our biggest stalker, they actually know me better than myself. They got our data from various companies to personalize our experience in order to show us a list of relevant advertisements that we want to see. It is becoming a useful and essential tool for marketers.
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Hey Joy.. thanks for sharing… Omgg although I know that Google knows what I searched for. I am still shocked that they actually know all the places I been to and exactly when I went! But if I were to close my location, it will be inconvenient for me as well.. hmmm anyways thanks for letting me know this fact..
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Hey Josephine, thank you for the comment!
You’re probably not the only one who didnt know about the google location. I didn’t know until recently as well.. Google actually know us more than what we can imagine. Our search history, browsing activities, locations, interest, etc. But do you know that you can actually switch them off in your setting? Hahah I went to google, how to stop google from stalking me. :’)
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Although I know google know my search history, I didnt know that they have access to my YouTube history as well!! It basically means they are all interconnected, isnt it so scary? I am sad to recognise this fact but I have to say Big Data might know me better than my closest friends. š¦
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Hi Waniiiix, thank you for the comment!
Hahaha I’m glad I’m not the only one! I also think Big Data might might me better than my friends or even my family members! š
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Hii Joyvina! After reading your blog entry, I personally feel that Big Data is not safe. I remember there was once when the government’s data got hacked in 2018. It is important for us to have necessary security to protect our data since it contain our personal data, credit card details and other important information
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Hey Kelkelx, thank you for the comment!
Yes, it is not safe, there is nowhere we can hide our data online. š¦ I remember that incident as well, it was on the news! It’s so scary, knowing that hackers actually managed to get through the multiple wall of protection by the government. That is why our personal privacy protection is important incase of such issues happening again!!
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I remember there was once, I clicked on a random ads by accident on Facebook. Thereafter, related ads keep appearing on my feed, it also started to appear on my IG. Although it might seem creepy that other platforms know my interest. What they are doing is actually recommending me products of my interest!!
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Hi Yhuix, thank you for the comment!
Same!! The ads that I clicked appeared on my Instagram and Facebook feed, but I actually don’t mind it. I feel like they are prompting me and showing me things that I expressed my interest in. Instead of getting creeped out, I actually think that it saves me some time from searching for things that I am interested in. Hahaha but on the other hand, I will annoyed if they start showing random advertisement on my feed which I didn’t click on.
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