Talk of data security is everywhere. Big analytic firms were recently exposed buying, selling and using information gained from millions of social media accounts for various purposes, mainly, to influence public opinion for political gain. This has everyone fruitlessly scrambling to verify their security settings, scratching their heads wondering if any of their data will ever be safe, and asking questions like:
- Do they have my data?
- What do they know about me?
- Can anything online be private?
To answer a few questions: Yes, they have your data and they know a lot about you. We live in the Information Age where our everyday activities like listening to music, browsing your favorite website and posting to social media are being recorded. This creates a digital footprint that paints a vibrant picture of who you are online. Some of the sites you use have the ability to gather mass amounts of data on you and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is a sobering fact that removes any lasting sense of false security. We’ve been looking over our shoulder in our digital world by putting tape over unused webcams, creating private social media accounts, and living by the motto “The internet is forever.” Now, none of our data seems safe.
Digital Footprint
This got me wondering: What does my digital footprint look like? What does my online persona say about me? Who do these analytic companies think I am? There are a couple of ways you can get information about your digital footprint including downloading your social media data, reviewing your Google Account activity, and visiting websites that analyze your public profiles like Apply Magic Sauce (AMS) from the University of Cambridge.
Apply Magic Sauce
Apply Magic Sauce (AMS) is a predictive API service that uses algorithms to analyze data and provide insights about a user. What does that mean exactly?
An API (application programming interface) is software that helps websites and apps connect, send, and receive information to communicate with each other. AMS receives the input data (like a blog post), compares it to pre-defined rules (grammar, syntax, vocabulary, ect.), uses algorithms to find patterns (super cool math), and outputs data to be reviewed (predictions). The software is able to predict ‘psycho-demographic traits’ of the user like age, gender, personality, intelligence, political views, interests, and even Jungian personality types.
Out of curiosity I tried it out and was impressed with the insights it provided. To begin, you can connect your social profiles or submit a sample of text through the ‘open text prediction’ section. I decided against connecting my profiles and submitted an old blog entry. This gives AMS data to look at, analyze via algorithms, and predict information about what you think and who you are.
The AMS results were just as accurate, if not more, than the slew of other personality tests I’ve taken over the years ranging from Myers Briggs tests, numerology readings, horoscopes, and even soul sucking Buzzfeed quizzes. It may be confirmation bias, but I found only slight discrepancies between the AMS analysis and my lived experience. If you’re curious about what your digital footprint says about you, I’d check it out.
Predictive APIs
AMS is an example of how predictive APIs can gather mass amounts of data, process it through machine learning, and provide actionable insights while promoting the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Louis Dorard gave an interesting interview in 2016 about how ‘Predictive APIs are Driving Machine Learning’ on The New Stack.
Do predictive APIs know more about you than your mother does? Is your digital footprint an accurate representation of who you are? Do we have any control over our personal data online? These are interesting times we live in. Let me know if you used AMS or another predictive API.
Media Basics 