Daily Data Divulges

7:45am : Spotify starts playing my Daily Mix playlist as an alarm. This playlist itself is already my data in action. Most of my 20(ish) playlists with this app are built off of the data they have gained from my likes, replays, and skips. I usually will add a dozen or so songs into a new playlist, and hit the Enhance Playlist button - at this point, Spotify uses my data, and its algorithms, to double the songs. With each of these new songs that I “like” a few more songs will be added to the Enhanced list - and so on, and so forth - until eventually the playlist is built up to a few hundred songs! This Daily Mix playlist however, is one that Spotify makes totally on its own ; based simply on my likes, repeats, and skips - but a short, condensed, hour or so listen.

8:00am : Coffee pot is on, and it’s time to check my daily transits. I pop open my TimePassages app to see what the day has in store for me. I have never even considered checking the Privacy Policy for this one, and what I learned while reading it this morning is that - while the app knows my name, any data they share is apparently “Anonymous” ; and only used for diagnostic purposes. Though it does state that the paid accounts release more information, and is a bit blurry as to where exactly that data goes, or how much is released. It just says “more.” I do have a paid account on this site, but it is directly connected to my phone plan - so, from the way it reads, they do not have my financial information, it is paid through a third party service.

• This app does not have ads, so nothing is directly targeted for me on it. However, the fact that I use it regularly, (usually multiple times a day as I have a few friends whose charts I have been reading as well,) it probably leads to targeted ads on other sites and applications for astrological materials. I do remember being recommended a new podcast on Spotify after I started using this app ; and that podcast is actually sponsored by the app itself. I am sure that was no coincidence.

8:30am (ish) : I spent the next …way too long… killing some slugs with my favorite game, BestFiends. When setting up this game, I was suggested to connect it to my Facebook and my email, (Google account,) to keep track of my progress - so there is no surprise in the fact that ALL of the ads, (and there are A LOT) are incredibly targeted. I even notice them changing day to day based on my most recent internet searches.

• Greatest example : I decided to go to the eye doctor a few months back, and learned that I needed glasses. All it took was one search, and all of my game play ads for the next several days were for EyeBuyDirect.com. The coupons started getting gradually better and better, until there was a BOGO one day. I ended up swooping up two new pairs of glasses for $30, plus shipping and handling.

10:00am (ish) : After losing the same level an exhausting number of times, I finally give up on my Fiends, and check my email. On my phone, I have one mailbox that all four of my accounts file into. I have my regular gmail account, my ASU gmail, a second school gmail (that I no longer attend classes at, but still get random emails from,) and my good ole’ AOL account, (that I still use, but mainly just for mailing lists that I know will end up as junk mail and spam.) Each of these emails have an extraordinary amount of exposed data on any given day, and these are definitely not privacy policies that I have ever thought to read through. Each of my personal accounts also have bills and other subscriptions attached to them - attaching my financial information into my email as well. (It is starting to seem as if Google and its subsidiaries have every bit of personal information that is possible for me.)

• Immediately following checking my email accounts, I go to check the other Mass Data Collector - Facebook. It is blaringly obvious as of late that Facebook is reckless with our information ; and yet, like millions of others, I just can’t stop. The endless, mindless, random information and laughs just have me hooked! I think the only piece of information that Facebook does not have on me is my financial situation. Otherwise, every box is checked. All of our interests, favorite brands, social interactions, political views, and even biometrics and behaviors are tracked - and then sold off to the highest bidder.

• While I am doing all of this, my Babe is sharing my information on yet another platform. Recently she has gotten incredibly into genealogy with the app Ancestry.com. Though they do not have it yet, I can see this platform going even further with both of our data collection than any other. With this site you can have your DNA tested ; which is really cool!! …until you consider that means that they then have your DNA on file. If biometrics and fingerprint scans aren’t bad enough, having actual DNA on file sounds terrifying - and yet, so intriguing! At this point we have traced my family tree back to the 1600’s in Germany, and learned that I come from a Royal bloodline. It does make one wonder though, how exactly this app works ; all you need is your own name and birthday, and at least one parent's name and birthday - and it then fills in your entire family history based on the data gathered about just those three people. It is crazy the information that they have, and how far back it can be traced.

I would question how this is even possible, but that would negate the point of this whole blog. It is possible because we are under constant Capitalistic Surveillance. They know everything - even what we do not divulge online. They know things about us that even we do not know about ourselves. They can anticipate our needs and wants, and push us in the direction They want us to go.

…but I digress.

11:30am : We have laid in bed far too long today, and it's time to get up and moving - she has to leave for work soon, so I start getting my homework area setup. First step is to find some background noise. I am still stuck on the Disney+, National Geographic channel - but with this assignment in my mind, I peruse my Firestick a bit first. In doing this, I realize the extraordinary number of applications that have our financial information! Even the few “free” streaming services still have to have an account on file for any purchases made, and we have more than two dozen different channels just on this stick! Granted, half of them have her information, and the other half have mine - this is still an insane number of corporations, and third parties, with hands on our finances and other private information. They have our names, address, IP address, and all behavioral data based on our clicks in their applications - and since it is all streamed from a Wifi connection under my name, they probably have all of the information attached to the Wifi as well!

1:30pm : Babe has left for work, and it’s time for me to get going on some homework. This will encompass my next few hours, until I have to leave for work. All of this gets done through my ASU.edu portal. Today I need to work on Bones, Stones, and Human Evolution - which is done entirely from the Canvas link ; however, my Digital Literacy for the Arts homework is done mostly via Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign in the Adobe Creative Cloud. I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to use these programs with my ASU account, and not have to make my own. Having and using these programs this semester has absolutely targeted new ads at me recently. I have been getting suggestions for articles on new cameras and their features, specific “How-To” videos on editing, and even discount codes to purchase the software.

3:45pm : Sometimes suggested materials, (and targeted ads too, I suppose,) can actually be kind of fun. One of my favorite things to do in spare down time, (like now while I’m letting my kids outside to pee,) I like to pop open my Google, and see what News articles they think I will find the most interesting and relevant today. I am sure that they base this “News” off of your past searches, and knowledge gained from your interests and behavior data - so for me, it is usually “News” about astrology, conspiracy theories, space exploration, politics, and major advances in science - but it can also vary outside of those specific themes on occasion.

• Today the top article is from CNN about the Blue Spiral that was caught by the Japanese telescopes over Hawaii. (My own theory, of course, is that they are lying, and it wasn’t SpaceX at all - but aliens. 👽 One can dream, right?) There is also one about a 2,000 year old mummy that was sent through a CAT scan, about Humanity reaching singularity, and about the riots across the nation from the video of the police beating of Tyre Nichols.

4:30pm : Time to leave for work - Doordash. (I would link it …but, as I would NEVER recommend anyone doing this for work, I’d rather not give the company the extra clicks.) Doordash has always needed my location preferences to be set to share while I am working, but since the first of this year, they want that information to be left on at all times - and do whatever they need to do to ensure that you allow it. (They threatened to close my account if I did not allow this preference!) I do not understand why the company needs to know my exact location at ALL times. I understand they need to know where I am while I am actively out working for their company - but while I am not on their clock, why is this necessary information? Why can I not opt out of this? It’s very frustrating, and VERY sketch.

• While I drive around tonight I am listening to Covet by Tracy Wolff on Audible. This series was originally recommended to me as an ad on Facebook, probably because of the multiple Harry Potter pages I follow. However, I fell for the advertisement not the first time, but the third when it came up as a suggestion after I listened to Rainbow Rowell’s series Carry On. As that quickly made its way to the top of my “Favorites” list, I figured it was finally time to give Ms Wolff a chance. (And I have absolutely not been disappointed. This series is FANTASTIC!)

10:00pm : Gotta stop to make a data swipe for some gas before I can head home. Ever since the summer that gas station fraud got big, I have been nervous everytime I swipe. (Do you remember that? Or is it just me? People were going around, and installing extra hidden credit card readers on gas station pumps - and then proceeding to steal account information and identities across the country with the information they gathered. I know they have devices in place to stop this for the most part these days, but that moment in time has stuck with me…) I try to use the Tap Pay as often as I can, but a lot of places do not have these installed, and/or working correctly. This payment method feels so much more secure to me.

Rest of the Evening / Reflection : The rest of my night is spent cycling through the same variety of programs, websites, and applications that the rest of my day have been focused around. (Creature of habit, I suppose you could say.) As I think back on the day, and realize my serious lack of privacy and security throughout the entire day, it’s astonishing to acknowledge. We are all out here just spreading our data with no regard as to where it is going. Most of us, me included, ignore the policies - and just click “accept,” mindlessly agreeing to whatever they are enforcing. Stuck in an endless loop of constant surveillance. Not even our ancestors are safe from today’s greedy technologies - so what does that mean for our future? Will the next generation be born with a chip implanted into its brain? I definitely need to learn to check myself, and hold some information back. I need to at least glance at these policies, and give them a quick read through ; and I need to keep myself better informed as to where my information is going!