Garbage in Data Out

The amount and quality of data available on you is mind-boggling. It can be used to manipulate your behaviors, wants, likes and dislikes with a far greater degree of accuracy and effectiveness than you could ever imagine. Data collection is everywhere. Not just what you might do online or in an app. Even the humble garbage can betray you to the wrong people.

"The great danger of Big Data occurs when it is fed into algorithms to track and manipulate you without your consent or knowledge.”

From election disinformation to shaping our preferences in every context (what we think is attractive, fun, interesting, worth spending on, etc.), data is king.

It can and will and does influence you!

The Dangers of “Garbage In, Data Out” 

 

I live in a high-rise with a trash-collection room on each floor. One day, I was throwing away some highly personal items. I realized then how intimate and revealing trash can be. If you looked in my trash for even one week, you could piece together an excellent picture of us:

 

Food and beverage waste reveals what we ate and drank

  • A box from a high-end bakery indicates interest and shopping habits.
  • Empty wine bottles indicate beverage preferences, income and habits.
  • The lack of meat products can indicate a vegetarian or vegan household.

Personal care and medicine are huge indicators 

  • Empty bottles of shampoo, perfume, feminine care, and skin care products reveal the brands we use and can extrapolate gender, age, and income.
  • We have a lactose-intolerant member of the household, so our trash has Lactaid boxes.
  • Pet food and potty pads indicate I’m a dog owner, and you could refine that further.

Any clothing reveals gender, age, income, and shopping habits

Any paper waste is HIGHLY personal. Junk mail in particular is a treasure trove of information

  • Right now, my paper waste includes mailers from museums (where I am a member, so they say “RENEW”), and brochures from brands I have purchased in the past.
  • Mailers from political parties reveal my political affiliation.
  • Health insurance advertisements clearly indicate the name of my insurance carrier and sometimes even my plan name

I shred what I deem personal, but if you think about it - it's ALL personal. Most people don’t even bother to shred items and will throw the whole thing away - revealing even more.

It’s important to note that in the book, and in real life, all data is tracked over time. So your data snapshot comes to life, then gets refined and refined and refined until it is REALLY you.

Finally, I do want to point out that data collection from garbage is a construct of the book. Currently, no one is admitting to analyzing garbage to individually profile, although legally this is perfectly permissible. Courts have routinely ruled that people do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy over their trash once said trash has hit the curb for collection.

Once you set it out, it is fair game for anyone!