• by Volker Ballueder , March 24, 2014

After examining big data last month, I thought of exploring login data, which ultimately relates to the former. The idea of solving the connection between screens is key to data collection and usage of data, ultimately targeting of advertisers.

Now across most devices there are logins required to use certain applications. Those applications are of course emails: Gmail, Hotmail/Outlook, Yahoo Mail; social: Twitter, Facebook; eCommerce: Amazon and, device OS: Apple, Android. If we stick with that list for now, we know that if you are a (login) member of any of those companies and use their services and apps on several devices, you end up giving them all the data they want. Also, they will be able to track you cross device.

Not only does Google know what content your emails have, but also when and on which device you read them. Being logged into Safari or Chrome gives Apple or Google a good picture of the services you use, what you search for and what you prefer doing. Not that Amazon already knows that you shop for your kitchen utensils on your mobile whilst books are browsed on the desktop, yet if you buy on the move, you prefer using your tablet. 

Based on analytics and clever slicing and dicing software, as outlined last month, all of the above companies are able to profile you into greatest detail. They own data across devices, can analyse your behaviour and make advertising and/or offers available to you depending on “what you do where and when……” 

It sounds a bit like science fictions but it isn’t. Those scenarios are not only possible, some of the bigger companies are using that data already. Whilst some data points are restricted due to legislations, making this data available without connecting it to a user still gives them insights into our (human) behaviour. And I would love to get a shot at those data bundles, exploring what we do on the move vs. what we do at home; is mCommerce bigger now and can Amazon re-target me cross device with products I am more likely to buy whilst commuting?

Where is this going to lead to? We can already see cars that have built-in tablets, and the war of which operation system wins in the car world is about to begin. Will both Apple and Google move into the car manufacturing world, and will robots only be a next step and a few years away? 

I won’t have the answers to all the questions but I envisage a future where we get up in the morning and our contact lens tells us what the weather is like, what’s on the news and what we should have for breakfast. Based on our progress in the morning, e.g., the moment we come out of the shower, the coffee machine gets started, and when we are about to leave the house, the car starts up for us to be able to get going. 

Connected devices and devices closer to our heart, wearable tech, and latter can be taken literally in a few years, will monitor our lives and help us make decisions based on data points. Depending on how we slept, how often we woke up, how much alcohol we consumed the night before, a 3D printer makes us a wake-up breakfast with the nutrition needed.

I must agree it is a bit futuristic, a bit scary but I don’t think it is light years away. Life is going to change based on data and its collection and analysis. On a personal level. Are we in control?