Your Data Is Brainwashing You
Dear Friend,
In an effort to make sure that you fully understand the information that I will be providing on this blog, I need to first give you a basic primer on data collection. Up until recently, I had completely misunderstood the concept. I knew of course that apps like Facebook were collecting our data and releasing it to third parties in order for them to advertise to us more effectively.
As it turns out, this is only a tiny sliver of the data collection pie. And advertising is the most benign of the slivers.
The truth of the matter is that your personal information has been used to create detailed user profiles in order to craft messages that specifically appeal to your fears and desires, and which cater to your biases.
It is of the utmost importance that we familiarize ourselves with the technical terms, and have a basic working knowledge of how they operate.
To that end, here is a list of the types of data that your devices are collecting, and how they can be used to manipulate you:
Demographic Information & Contact Information – Targeted Messaging
- Age, gender, ethnicity, education level, income, occupation, and marital status. This builds your “basic user profile.” Your email address, phone number, and social media handles are sold off to third parties so that they can contact you directly, or for targeted messaging through your social media feeds or browser.
Location Data – Geotargeting & Event-Driven Misinformation
- GPS data from your phone, check-ins on Facebook, IP address location, and travel patterns. This information is used to track where you are, and what your daily habits and routines are as you move around physically in the world. With access to geolocation data, disinformation campaigns target people in specific areas with false information related to local events, political elections, or emergency situations. This can lead to confusion, panic, or spreading misleading information about events that could directly affect others in the area.
Behavioral & Psychographic Data – Astroturfing (Fake Grassroots Movements)
- Your browsing history, search queries, interactions on social media and online surveys provide insight into your personality traits, values, beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyle choices. By using data about your interests or affiliations, campaigns can create seemingly “organic” online movements (Astroturfing). These fake grassroots efforts can amplify disinformation or sway public opinion by pretending to be widespread support or opposition. When it seems like everyone agrees on something, you’re more apt to believe it.
Social Connections – Exploiting & Weaponing Trusted Connections
- Networks of friends, family, colleagues, groups in which people engage. This helps create an “influence map”, which spreads content through your trusted connections and assists the algorithm in choosing whose posts you see. This is why you only see some of your friend’s posts in your feed. The algorithm first prioritizes your family members and frequent contacts, and then the people who have the same beliefs and interests as you. If your close friends and family members are sharing something, you’re more likely to believe the accuracy of the claim.
Political Views and Affiliations – Polarization & Social Division
- Data from surveys, voting history, online discussions, or affiliations with political groups is collected, and is key in tailoring and delivering divisive political messages to your feed. It is used to send you content that vilifies the opposing side, creating a more hostile, “us vs. them” mentality. This works in conjunction with your trusted social connections, creating “filter bubbles” or “echo chambers”, in which information that doesn’t match up with your existing belief is suppressed from your feeds. This allows you to subconsciously create a cognitive bias that is consistently reinforced and conditioned until it is deeply embedded into your belief system.
Health Information
- Personal medical data, fitness tracking, and health-related social media posts. This data can be used to spread misinformation about health, wellness, or public health issues. Anxiety around your health can be used to not only sell you fake remedies and pharmaceuticals, but to capitalize on your fear and to identify you as an individual who is more likely to have an exaggerated response to a public health emergency and may be inclined to spread disinformation out of panic.
Financial Data
- Spending patterns, credit card purchases, financial planning, and banking details. This provides insight into your values, priorities, and financial condition. Personal data that reveals your vulnerabilities (e.g., financial strain) is exploited by creating emotionally charged content that manipulates those feelings to spur action, like sharing or reacting to false information.
Facial Recognition and Biometrics
- Facial features, fingerprints, voiceprints, and other biometric data. This information is used to verify your identity, but is also used to generate “deepfakes” – video or audio content that mimics real people. This can be used to spread fake news or discredit individuals or groups by making them appear to say or do things they never did.
Fake Reviews & Testimonials – Leveraging Social Proof
- Personal data can be used in order for companies to fabricate fake testimonials or reviews that you will relate to.
Humans have a natural tendency to trust the opinions of others, especially those we perceive as similar to themselves. This psychological bias is often called “social proof”. Fake testimonials or reviews can manipulate this bias by fabricating endorsements that appear to come from people with shared experiences, demographics, or interests.
Now that you’ve had a bit of a tutorial, please subscribe and share with your friends and family. In my next post, I’ll be writing about AI bots and “fake actors” that have overtaken our social media apps, and how they continue to be successful at persuading public opinion through targeted disinformation campaigns. Hang tight, because this may get rough. xx
