Big Brother
Cell-phone companies in Europe and Africa have donated large blocks of calling records for research use. Three-quarters of the world's people carry a wireless phone and many smartphones have sensors to record movement, proximity to other people with phones and light levels, along with taking pictures or videos. Compasses, gyroscopes and accelerometers sense rotation and direction. With that kind of data, researchers are able to identify behavior, health and eating habits, and predict stock market investments and changes in political opinions.
But here is the scary part, one of the researchers states,
"It is not just about observing what is happening, it is about shaping what is happening. The patterns are allowing us to learn how to better manipulate trends, opinions and mass psychology."
What makes today's applied technology so dangerous is the ability to gather information quickly and on a day-to-day basis by observing individual movements, contacts with others and methods that do not require face-to-face interviews, or even direct inquiries over the Internet. Once the correct groups are identified, various reward systems can be introduced to shape individuals to become supporters and advocates. Scary!
Psychology Today
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