Tag: security

Data (Gold) Mining

Let’s face it, if you really were going to quit Facebook, you would have a few years ago. Fact is, you should have asked the serious questions when the ‘free’ social media platform started turning over billions of dollars.

No free service can generate that amount of money out of goodwill and thin air. So much that they could list on the stock exchange. So, we are not quite sure why everyone is acting amazed or why the knee-jerk #DeleteFacebook campaign is only now coming to light.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch. If you believe that all these online social platforms would keep it that way, then you are as naive as they are hoping you to be.

Think about it, the companies behind the platforms, actively recruit in pretty much tens and hundreds of cities globally.

And the simple fact of the matter is that in order for them to pay all their staff of programmers, developers, executives, lawyers, and other stakeholders. They need to be paid!

What your data means

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, and any social media platform that has over 100 million users sit on a goldmine for advertisers.

The commodity, however, is not just what their users wish to own in the short term, or their purchasing power directly for that matter.

The commodity is simply you, the user. So, your preferences, habits, and views along with their personal data are analyzed via machine-learning systems to study behaviours and habits.

The data, in turn, is used for constant revenue maximization. In some extreme cases, it is used for political, psychological, and social manipulation!

“Your ‘payment’ on a social media platform is your consent to have your information used for marketing purposes. Opting out of marketing would give you true ‘free use’ of the service. But no profiteering company offers you that privilege today. The best you can get is a month’s free trial.”

Your likes, spending habits, music preferences, political views, location and working habits enables marketers to present their goods and services.

They can position their offerings (sometimes subliminally) into spaces where you are likely to indulge in them.

Social media platforms, in this case, become the marketplace for them to ‘mine’ data to use.

Social network sites worldwide as of January 2018, ranked by the number of active users (in millions).

Source: © Statista 2018

How the mining works

Data mining is not a new idea and completely legal if presented transparently in the terms and conditions of any service. The terms get longer by the day (small print) that we don’t bother to read them.
Microsoft envisioned this a decade ago and changed the way its operating systems work (with its Windows 8 series).

Its operating systems are now more of a social, interactive, and information gathering system. Allegedly designed to “help you” organize things better.
This is fostered by a voice-activated app called Cortana – all under one Microsoft account.

Amazon has its own ways of data mining via your shopping habits and Alexa – is its own voice-activated search and information-providing device.
Google (owned by Alphabet company) has the biggest stranglehold of the lot. They must, therefore, be the most cautious when it comes to data privacy and security.

This applies especially with its partnership with Android, which makes it a requirement for you to use for all their devices to link all your data.

These include phone contacts, emails via Gmail, pictures via GoogleDrive, apps (music, movies, etc) orders via the Google (Play)Store, and social media (Google+).

You can even have your search fields stored and synced onto your devices – from your laptop to phone and tablet via Google.

You are now having to give up your personal details to unknown affiliated marketers and partners of tech giants. They get first dibs on this data – and paying good money for it.

Read more about Affiliate Marketing here

Required by regulation

The main violation by Facebook, therefore, might not even be non-consensus selling of data to marketers. Such things could be countered with a clause.
They may have strategically stuck one in while you were busy posting selfies and liking random videos of cats.

The real issue is the potential use of the data for political or advanced manipulation of data for fraudulent purposes. This can be facilitated by the use of artificial intelligence to influence you without your knowledge.

Read more about the uses of Artificial Intelligence here

It is possible for you to have full data privacy and absolute freedom from advertising on social platforms. This, however, comes at a ‘cost’.

This was reiterated recently by the COO of Facebook who admittedly confirmed that ‘opting out’ would mean you will have to pay to use Facebook in the future.
They had just not put this in place but will now forcibly have to make it a clearly visible option.

The fact of the matter is we are in an era of Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI. All of these require your data to ‘operate’.

Data mining is here to stay

Though many were reluctant at first, pretty much every company now has a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page. It serves as a platform to showcase and communicate with thier clients via the newly termed phrase ‘social engagement’.

This has turned out to become a strong branding and marketing tool for them.

And if you think you are out of it by leaving one platform, just remember this: Facebook owns WhatsApp & Instagram; Google owns YouTube; Microsoft owns LinkedIn, and so on.

There is, in fact, nowhere to hide if complete online privacy is important to you. And let’s not forget your web-browser: Not many of us actively use ad-blockers: but your browsing data is being scanned and processed by external third-parties companies.

If you aren’t using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), you should seriously consider it! Along with some good plug-ins to help secure your online browsing from all types of behind the scenes snooping and ransomware.
It will be interesting to see the outcome and verdict of the probe into the Facebook case.

Rest assured, many other heavily used platforms will be deleting and removing ties with data mining marketers. Especially ones that have had a similar agenda to what Cambridge Analytica was accused of conducting.

A change in the verification of marketers, data storage and data security laws (such as the new GDPR law) were long overdue. Facebook will now be the scapegoat to enforce data security laws on social media.

8 April 2018
Data (Gold) Mining

Let’s face it, if you really were going to quit Facebook, you would have a few years ago. Fact is, you should have asked the serious questions when the ‘free’ social media platform started turning over millions and even billions of dollars in revenue. No free service can generate that amount money out of goodwill and thin air – so much that they could list on the stock exchange. So, we are not quite sure why everyone is acting amazed or why the knee-jerk #DeleteFacebook campaign is only now coming to light.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch and if you believe that all these online social platforms – who may have started off with sole intentions to provide a free service, would keep it that way, then you are as naive as they are hoping you to be. Think about it, the companies behind the platforms, actively recruit in pretty much tens and hundreds of cities globally. And the simple fact of the matter is that in order for them to pay all their (global) staff of programmers, developers, executives, lawyers and other stakeholders – they need revenue.

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat and pretty much any social media platform that has over 100 million users, therefore, sit on a goldmine for advertisers. The commodity, however, is not just what their users wish to own in the short term, or their purchasing power directly for that matter. The commodity is simply you, the user. So, your preferences, habits and views along with their personal data are analysed via machine-learning systems to study behaviours and habits for constant revenue maximization or in some extreme cases: political, psychological and social manipulation!

“Your ‘payment’ on a social media platform is your consent to have your information used for marketing purposes – opting out of marketing would give you true free use of the service. But no profiteering company offers that privilege today – the best you can get is a month’s free trial.”

Knowing your likes, spending habits, music preferences, political views, personal information including location and working habits is enough for any company or institution to cater their goods and services and position them (sometimes subliminally) into spaces where you are likely to indulge in them. Social media platforms, in this case, become the marketplace for them to ‘mine’ data to use.

Most famous social network sites worldwide as of January 2018, ranked by number of active users (in millions).

Source: © Statista 2018

Data mining is not a new idea and completely legal if presented transparently in the terms and conditions of any service – which are getting longer by the day (and smaller in print) that we don’t bother to read them. In fact, Microsoft envisioned this a decade ago and changed the way its operating systems work (beginning with its Windows 8 series), to more of a social, interactive and information gathering system – designed to “help you” organize things better. This is fostered by a voice-activated app called Cortana – all under one Microsoft account.

Amazon has its own ways of data mining via your shopping habits and Alexa – is own voice-activated search and information-providing device. Google (owned by a group called the Alphabet company) has the biggest stranglehold of the lot and must, therefore, be the most cautious when it comes to data privacy and security.

This applies especially with its partnership with Android, which makes it a requirement to use for all their devices (phones and tablets) to link up all your data including phone contacts, emails via Gmail, pictures via GoogleDrive, apps (music, movies and games) orders via the Google (Play)Store and social media via Google+. You can even have your search fields stored and synced onto your devices – from your laptop to phone and tablet via Google.

You are now having to (almost mandatorily) give up your telephone number, location, and other preferences indirectly to unknown affiliated marketers and partners of the tech giants who are getting first dibs on this data – and paying good money for it.

The main violation by Facebook, therefore, might not even be non-consensus selling of data to marketers, because such things could be countered with a clause they may have strategically stuck in while you were busy posting selfies and liking random videos of cats making funny faces. The real issue is the potential use of the data for political or advanced manipulation of data for fraudulent purpose with the use of sophisticated and artificial intelligence to influence you without your knowledge.

Read more about the uses of Artificial Intelligence here

Full data privacy, though not conceivable, and absolute freedom from advertising on social platforms is possible – but at a cost. This was reiterated recently by the COO of Facebook who admittedly confirmed that opting out of the terms to have your data sold or used would lead to you having to pay to use Facebook in future. They had just not put this in place but will now forcibly have to make it a clearly visible option.

The fact of the matter is we are in an era of Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT) and AI – all which require data to analyze. These platforms are thus here to stay and still serve their specific functions well. More importantly, they’re also the livelihood for many small-to-medium-sized businesses. Though many were reluctant at first, pretty much every company now has a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page to showcase and communicate with their clients via the newly termed phrase ‘social engagement’ – a strong branding and marketing tool.

And if you think you are out of it by leaving one platform, just remember this: Facebook owns WhatsApp & Instagram; Google owns YouTube; Microsoft owns LinkedIn and so on – there is nowhere to hide if complete online privacy is important to you. And let’s not forget your web-browser – not many people actively use ad-blockers unaware that even their browsing data is being scanned and processed always by external third-parties companies.

If you aren’t using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), you should seriously consider it along with some good (some free) plug-ins to help secure your online browsing from all types of behind the scenes snooping and ransomware.

It will be interesting to see the outcome and verdict of the probe into the Facebook case and rest assured, many other heavily used platforms will be deleting and removing ties with data mining marketers that have had a similar agenda to what Cambridge Analytica was accused of conducting.

A change in verification of marketers, data storage, management and data security laws (such as the new GDPR law targeting businesses coming in May 2018 to the EU region) were long overdue, and Facebook will now be the scapegoat to enforce data security laws on social media.

8 April 2018
Life hacks using tech

We often do things out of routine without considering if there is an easier way to achieve the same result quicker and even more effectively. In a larger company or organization, this is the job of the business analyst.

What if we applied this to other daily activities and tasks that shape the way we live?

This would give us more time to partake in the things we love.
It’s hard enough for most working-class adults to spend most of their days in the week behind a PC. This is usually followed by hours behind the wheel in traffic or commuting via public transportation.
This makes the task of going shopping or even attending a doctor’s check-up after an 8-hour work stint more of a burden or chore. Worse over if you must queue further to get the service.

This very example came to mind when a relative complained about having to go from one doctor to another. When referred to a specialist they had to then book another appointment by calling that specialist’s practice.

Now granted, this is basically a ´first world problem’. Because having a specialist attend to a back problem after your doctor recommends it during an initial check-up is a luxury. One that third world citizens could only dream of having in the first place!

Problem-solving scenario

So, in the case of the referral to a specialist, a simple unified medical system can resolve this. A CRM database linking all the medical practitioners including their schedules can save you the time taken to arrange the new appointment.
This system would also have a secure high-tech scanning and attachment add-on so that X-rays, scans, diagnoses and the attending doctor’s notes can be attached. All for the attention of the specialist.
The times for the new appointment can be chosen quickly while the patient is at the doctor’s practice. When convenient, you could then go to the specialist directly.

The concept explained

This is one very basic and rudimentary example of how an automated, centralized software solution can help schedule appointments.
To achieve maximum optimization the system would clearly require several tests before implementation.

Too often systems analysts and developers do not consider the end users. The user experience (UX) is the most crucial aspect of software development and should be the first step in building an automated system or it will never achieve its purpose.

It doesn’t have to be used as a national health solution. This is because centrally planned systems, as mentioned in a previous blog, can lead to inefficiencies.
It would need to be localized in order to make the system easier to maintain and be updated with contact details. This especially when information can change on a weekly or monthly basis.

Naturally, and for decades, health insurance companies have utilized card systems to document patient visits to practitioners. This also helps you and practice to easily claim back medical costs.

But this only serves a singular function and is laborious to run. What is being proposed in this blog post is something to resolve this in a more secure and decentralized manner.

Application and security

Cloud security has become a huge requirement and will be a necessity for all businesses and services in the very near future. Europe, for instance, is implementing compliance laws for storage of data under its new GDPR regulation.

Countries like Sweden also have similar compliance laws to handle financial (with a lot of banking going mobile) and medical data stored in the cloud.

So, security would become less of a concern for businesses when it comes to data storage and automated CRM systems in the future.

Shopping and housing convenience

The burden of shopping can also be alleviated with initiatives such as cashless processes. We first saw this introduced in Asia (China) and now adopted in the West through Amazon’s new cashless´ and cashier-less grocery stores.

While shoplifters might not see the innovation in this ‘new method’ of shopping; it saves you time spent queueing to pay and will invariably help resolve the scourge of shoplifting.

It will, however, require more reliance on technology for surveillance, to monitor and track the scanning of the goods and keep a database of records on a server.

This helps you with the inventory management and other back-office processes and is managed by an automated ERP solution (and not a person).
We are still waiting for massive roll-outs of the so-called smart houses equipped with smart chips that help regulate temperature, turn off energy-consuming devices when not in use.

Some are even equipped with fridges that remind you when food is expiring or simply needs to be replaced.

Designing such systems would naturally require careful observation into the various steps needed to reach the desired result. Details in every step from how you go from point A (selecting a product); to point Z.

Point Z being you walking out of the shop with a fully paid item. All without using cash or the need for a cashier.

Tweaking the solution

The system analyst’s job would be to engage or even simulate the processes using different test subjects and not just the best practice.
There is the possibility that you might forget to pay for the milk after checking out of a security area. That could result in an embarrassing scenario for all.

These are just two examples of countless scenarios that can help us benefit from the use of automation and AI.
There are many other subtle examples such as in the motor industry. This includes the use of computers to diagnose a ‘sick car’.

There can be a solution for every bottlenecking problem. Addressing this is now has become a new field of study. Computerization and the use of robotics to handle manual labour and repetitive blue-collar jobs will be new highly lucrative career paths.

Many new start-ups already exist purely to develop system automation.

Welcome to the future!

9 February 2018
Rise of the machines

As a young man born in and living in Pretoria South Africa, multi-billionaire Elon Musk – better known for pioneering the Tesla battery-operated motor concept – was shunned by the Industrial Development Corporation several times.

His innovative ideas were denied financial backing so he moved to the USA for better support. The rest as we all know is history.

The futuristic thinker, however, took a rather skeptical and worrisome handbrake-turn when it came to the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and its benefits to society.

When a man like that with so much insight into technology warns of its potentially harming effects, it warrants notice. Musk warned that its use could foster ‘the coming of third world war’. We have to for such reasons, delve a little deeper into the topic.

We have rapidly progressed from longer periods of stone, iron, industrial, to that of space, technological/information ages. The world is now apparently fused between the latter three.

Despite skipping a few ‘crucial’ stages, we have now surged into the age of digital automation. This is while sadly still dealing with the ravages of poverty, disease, and irreversible damage to our environment.

Automation & AI usage

Automation is helping business through software like ERPs that take over traditional back-office finance and operations.

In the IT industry, the Internet of things (IoT), cloud services, and general Software as a Service (SaaS) have simplified things for IT managers. You can now just monitor and attend to more pertinent issues and tasks (hopefully not just stream movies and play games on duty).

While seated comfortably, you will be able to now perform tasks such as deploying new software, installing/removing updates on multiple machines/devices simultaneously. All with a push of a few buttons.

Trading bots

In the high-risk investment scene, automation has given traders more room for better research and analysis Thus relieving you from the known stresses and mundane tasks associated with trading.

For many trading houses and brokers, AI has even completely taken over the mundane task of making and executing trades.

Advert

If you haven’t already, read this great book entitled: The Fear Index (thriller by Robert Harris). Though fiction, it illustrates the use of a machine learning tool using algorithms to help a hedge fund company generate billions for its investors.

The use of AI is not without fault. It can also lead to costly system-generated errors like the trading error a few years at Goldman Sachs cost the firm $100 million and other cases.

Other use cases

It can still, on a ‘micro’ level, help free human capital (individuals) from PC-related issues. So things like having stress, headaches, backaches, and lack of time spent with family and friends can be a thing of the past.

In the industrial and manufacturing sectors, the advent of AI creates even more of a fear and a concern. The number (staffing) of redundancies, may increase when it is introduced.

This would require careful planning to ensure the blue-collars that are ‘replaced’, are compensated. More so, they would need to be incorporated into different areas of businesses.

Limits of robotics

Obviously, not every task need to be automated or performed by robots. We (as humans) are still required to check-up, inspect, and perform quality checks for instance.
We can, as a result, deal with inter-personal jobs that require more empathy like in customer and social service.

Human resources or getting into corporate social responsibility (CSI) projects that reach out to communities.

Embracing it

More importantly, policies by governments will need to focus ever so more on job-creation. Governments must now adopt innovative means of creating jobs or foster and supporting entrepreneurship. Projects like those of Mr. Tesla/Mr. PayPal/Mr. SpaceX has created thousands of new jobs.

As for the use of AI in weaponry and military defense systems, the less said the better. When it comes to privacy and security concerns we can only hope that rogue politicians don’t get unregulated access to such technology. In such a case we would only be able to protest and hope not to feature in a real-life James Cameron sequel to Judgment Day.

3 December 2017

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