Koen Vegter 423269

5/5 (1)

With current technologies evolving fast, more data is generated. However, data can be generated via channels you did not expect. In this article, I would like to tell you about one of the unknown ways that organisations are already tracking people. The technology that I would like to discuss is called ‘eye-tracking’.

What is eye-tracking?

Eye-tracking is the use of an advanced camera that measures our eye movements. It is the process of measuring where one is looking or the motion of the eye relative to the head. An eye-tracking camera is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in psycholinguistics, marketing, as an input device for human-computer interaction, and in product design.

Why is eye-tracking on the rise?

One of the reasons that eye-tracking is on the rise, is because the cameras used for this technology are getting cheaper. There are eye-trackers available for 199 dollars. A few years ago, this was still a few thousand dollars. With lower prices, the technology becomes more accessible for use.

Data can be used by data analysts for user insights. Especially in marketing, this can have a big impact. Because companies are always looking for new ways to gather insights about their customers, it is interesting for them to experiment with eye-tracking. However, to really get a grasp of what eye-tracking can do, let us look at some use cases.

Use cases

I personally believe eye-tracking can revolutionizing our relationship with mobile devices. In the future, it will be possible to control your mobile device and surf the internet with your eyes. Another example where this might come in handy is healthcare. During operations, surgeons can not touch a computer due to hygiene. With this technology, this would be possible.

Gathering insights can also be revolutionized. Where websites now use Hotjar to create heatmaps of websites based on where you click, these heatmaps can now evolve to heatmaps based on information of your eye movement.

Eye-tracking can be used in mobility, to make sure drivers keep their eyes on the road. This can prevent accidents by alarming drivers to fall asleep behind the wheel.

With all these use cases, cheaper eye-trackers and evolving technology, I am curious to see what eye-tracking will bring in the future. How about you?

Sources

“Basics | Eyetribe-Docs.” Theeyetribe.Com, 2014, theeyetribe.com/dev.theeyetribe.com/dev.theeyetribe.com/general/index.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

Farnsworth, Bryn. “What Is Eye Tracking and How Does It Work? – IMotions.” IMotions, 2 Apr. 2019, imotions.com/blog/eye-tracking-work/.

“Tobii Tech – What Is Eye Tracking?” Tobii.Com, 17 Sept. 2015, www.tobii.com/tech/technology/what-is-eye-tracking/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

“What Is Eye Tracking?” Eyetracking.Com, 2011, www.eyetracking.com/About-Us/What-Is-Eye-Tracking. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

“What Is Eye Tracking? How Is Eye Tracking Valuable in Research?” Tobiipro.Com, 6 Mar. 2018, www.tobiipro.com/blog/what-is-eye-tracking/.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Eye Tracking.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_tracking. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

5/5 (2)

In 2018, a news story broke and the world was shocked by a scandal. Facebook had a collection of personally identifiable information of “up to 87 million people”, and the political consulting and strategic communication firm Cambridge Analytica had access to this data (TechRepublic, 2019). While a lot of people were shocked, a lot of other people found it hard to grasp the concept of what privacy issue really was. The sentence “I don’t care about privacy because I’ve got nothing to hide” is a term that rings a lot of alarm bells with people dedicated about privacy. A good example is Facebook, where 68% of its users are not understanding the privacy settings of the company (Gigante, 2019). Next to that, almost 40 percent of respondents a questionnaire by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said they did not know how to protect themselves against cybercrime (Voice of America, 2019).

To raise awareness, a freelance developer created a chrome extension, called Data Selfie. The aim of this extension is to raise awareness for privacy and make privacy a less ‘vague’ term. To educate you about what kind of personal information is gathered, we will show you the data that only Facebook has about you, but most likely a lot of other organisations too.

What does Facebook know:

What you did in the app, and when

You could have seen that one coming. But yes, Facebook stores all the activity you do within the app or on the website. This includes your top pages, top friends and top likes

Your personality

Do you remember the Big-5 personality model? Facebook has all the data to create on from you. They can use it to display different ads to different personalities.

Your religion preferences

Political orientation

Shopping preferences

And this is only the beginning of what Facebook knows about you. Want to see your data? You can download the extension here (Chrome.google.com, 2019). This gives you a good view of the data that Facebook knows about you. However, this data can also be used by other companies paying money to Facebook for ads. It raises the question; can this data be gathered by Facebook? Can this data be used by Facebook? Do you think other companies that pay money to Facebook for ads, that indirectly use this data, should use this data?

Let me know what you think!

References:

TechRepublic. (2019). Facebook data privacy scandal: A cheat sheet. [online] Available at: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/facebook-data-privacy-scandal-a-cheat-sheet/ [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019].

Gigante, M. (2019). The Sad State of Social Media Privacy [Infographic] | MDG Advertising. [online] MDG Advertising. Available at: https://www.mdgadvertising.com/marketing-insights/infographics/the-sad-state-of-social-media-privacy-infographic/ [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019].

Chrome.google.com. (2019). Data Selfie. [online] Available at: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/data-selfie/kjmnobfdkgaclpkgeniccafoennghjnm [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019].

Voice of America. (2019). Hacks and Facts: 10 Things to Know About Data Privacy. [online] Available at: https://www.voanews.com/silicon-valley-technology/hacks-and-facts-10-things-know-about-data-privacy [Accessed 11 Sep. 2019].

Tracking what you watch

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