Tuesday’s class ended with a discussion of involuntary data collection, or the process by which organizations gather information on individuals without expressed permission. Thinking of my upcoming spring break trip, I argued that airlines participate in this form of data collection without explicitly letting customers know. A November 2013 Wall Street Journal article on the subject notes the numerous pieces of data airlines obtain from travelers: American Airlines informs gate agents about past traveling history and frequent flyer status, JetBlue informs crew members about birthdays, and British Airways allows flight attendants to write comments about traveler behavior, including fear of flying. This involuntary data collection shouldn’t be surprising. We often provide our personal information to companies in exchange for some benefit, including airline miles, elite status, and a more personalized experience- as outlined by the WSJ article. Airlines are the big fish in this example; we have minimal power in keeping our data from them.

Growing technology-and easier access to data-has recently created a flip flop in this hierarchy: now, the customer can involuntarily mine data on the airline. Aktarer Zamen, a 22 year-old entrepreneur, faced lawsuits by United Airlines and Orbitz Travel in December after the two large companies outlined objections surrounding his site, Skiplagged.com. Skiplagged plays upon airlines’ use of supply and demand. Flights do not necessarily increase in price as distance increases. For example, a flight from Nashville to Boston with a layover in Atlanta may be cheaper than just taking the first flight from Nashville to Atlanta. Skiplagged would find this discrepancy and tell a customer traveling to Atlanta to book through Boston but not board the second flight. Zamen’s website mines airline data to, like the airlines who work to “personalize the flying experience” (WSJ), “help travelers” receive the best possible product (CNN). Whereas airlines mine the customer’s data, Skiplagged serves as an example of a customer mining the airlines’ data.

Airlines clearly stand aware of how powerful the data they mine from customers must be. If they weren’t, there would be no reason for them to be afraid of Skiplagged and other startups that mine data on them. In the future, airlines and large travel sites may not be the only fish mining data in the travel pond.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579139923818792360

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/29/news/united-orbitz-sue-skiplagged-22/index.html

In Alice Marwick’s article “How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined,” she gives an example of a consumer shopping for shampoo. In this scenario the customer is undecided in his/her choice and is picking up several different bottles. In this futuristic store the consumer’s eye movements would be tracked and a coupon for a specific bottle could be printed from the shelf, urging the customer to make a specific decision.

This scenario brings up a theme that is not only related to data collection, but has been in a pressing concern in America since its beginnings. This is the freedom of choice and whether or not anyone but the individual has or should have the power to make decisions for them. People in the United States have always held the power of choice as very important. From resisting taxation without representation before the Revolutionary War to resisting Bloomberg’s decision to ban certain drink sizes in NYC, American people have always valued the ability to make their own decisions. In the shampoo example, a customer’s data in combination with their eye movements results in a third party trying to make their decision for them. It’s as though the advertising company knows better than the consumer. Based on the historical examples in this country I don’t think this will go over well if it ever becomes a reality.

Marwick addresses this problem briefly when talking about how Target began sending pregnant women coupons directed towards their specific needs. Instead of responding positively, the women didn’t like that Target knew they were pregnant. Target was forced to mix other advertisements in with those directed towards pregnancies in order to get the women to use the coupons. I feel as though the same end may come to shelf coupons. Instead of pushing one produce heavily I think they will have to give multiple options so consumers still feel as though they have the ultimate power in their decision.