Mindmasters

1. Data Reveals Our Inner Selves

In the same way my neighbors became expert snoopers and puppeteers over time, computers can translate seemingly mundane, innocuous information about what we do into highly intimate insights about who we are and ultimately prescriptions of what we should do.

Digital footprints. Every online action, from social media posts to search queries, leaves a digital trace. These seemingly insignificant data points, when aggregated and analyzed, can reveal intimate details about our personalities, preferences, and even our mental states. Algorithms can now decipher our psychology with surprising accuracy, often surpassing the insights of our closest friends and family.

Machine learning. Computers learn to decode our psychology through observation and trial and error, similar to how a chick sexer learns to distinguish between male and female chicks. By analyzing vast datasets and receiving feedback on their predictions, algorithms can identify patterns and correlations between our digital footprints and our inner selves. This process allows computers to make educated guesses about our characteristics, turning seemingly random data into highly accurate predictions.

Beyond the surface. The ability of computers to translate our digital footprints into psychological profiles opens a window into aspects of our identity that define who we are beyond what is visible to the naked eye. This includes our political ideology, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, mental health, cognitive ability, and personal values. By connecting the dots between our online behaviors and our inner mental lives, computers can paint a rich picture of our personal habits, preferences, needs, and motivations.

2. Social Media: A Stage for Identity

Sharing one’s own opinion or attitudes with others causes a spike of activity in the brain’s pleasure center.

Identity claims. Social media platforms encourage self-disclosure, making them ideal hunting grounds for identity claims – deliberate expressions of a person's identity. These claims, such as Facebook likes, social media posts, and pictures, provide valuable insights into our psychology. While we naturally assume these traces hold information about their owners, computers can make judgments far more accurately than we can.

Algorithmic snooping. Computers analyze social media profiles by identifying patterns and correlations between our online behaviors and our characteristics. For example, women tend to post about shopping, babies, and boyfriends, while men often discuss sports and video games. These stereotypical patterns, while not always accurate, can be used to predict a person's gender with high accuracy.

Beyond gender. Social media profiles can also reveal information about our personality traits, political ideology, and even our intelligence. By analyzing the words we use, the pages we like, and the pictures we post, computers can gain a deeper understanding of who we are and what we care about. This information can be used for a variety of purposes, both positive and negative.

3. Digital Breadcrumbs Tell Tales

Like my husband’s apartment, our lives and the physical spaces we inhabit are filled with cues about who we are.

Behavioral residue. Our lives are filled with cues about who we are, some intentional and others unconscious. These unconscious cues, known as "behavioral residue," are the by-products of our lives, unavoidable traces of our actions. Unlike identity claims, behavioral residues are not intended as explicit signals to others.

Google, spending, and smartphones. Three prominent types of behavioral residue that offer a glimpse into our psychology are Google searches, spending records, and smartphone sensor data.

• Google searches reveal our most intimate secrets and questions.
• Spending records create a unique spending signature that allows others to identify us among millions of consumers.
• Smartphone sensors collect data on our whereabouts, physical activity, and social interactions 24/7.

Intimate insights. These digital breadcrumbs can generate remarkably intimate insights into our lives, allowing computers to infer our personality traits, mental health, and even our income. By analyzing these traces, computers can gain a deeper understanding of who we are and what motivates us.

4. Context Shapes Who We Are Online

What this all comes down to is power.

Dynamic personalities. Our personalities aren't fixed; they vary depending on the situation. We all have a core identity, but who we are and how we act also depends on what is going on inside us and around us. Understanding these situational contingencies can give computers an extra edge when predicting our psychology.

Situational awareness. By tracking our location, mood, and stress levels, computers can gain a more nuanced understanding of our current state. This allows them to make more accurate predictions about our behavior and tailor their responses accordingly. For example, a computer might recognize that you are in a coffee shop and infer that you are feeling more extroverted than usual.

Situational profiles. Just as we can characterize people using personality traits, we can also characterize situations using dimensions such as sociality, positivity, and intellect. By understanding the psychological meaning of situations, we can gain a deeper understanding of how they influence our behavior. This knowledge can be used to create more personalized and effective interventions.

5. Psychological Targeting: A Double-Edged Sword

The exact same mechanisms can be used to accomplish diametrically opposed goals.

Power to influence. Psychological targeting, the process of influencing people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors based on their predicted psychological characteristics, is a powerful tool. It can be used for both good and evil, depending on the intentions of those who wield it.

Marketing and manipulation. On the one hand, psychological targeting can be used to improve marketing effectiveness, personalize customer experiences, and even promote positive behaviors like saving money and improving health. On the other hand, it can be used to manipulate people, exploit their vulnerabilities, and spread misinformation.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Cambridge Analytica scandal serves as a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of psychological targeting. The company used Facebook data to target voters with personalized advertising campaigns, allegedly influencing the 2016 US presidential election. This incident highlighted the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of personal data.

6. Data Control Isn't Always Freedom

We need to understand the players that control the current data ecosystem, figure out how they use our personal data for and against us, and identify the leverage we have (or need) to come out on top.

The illusion of control. While data protection regulations aim to empower consumers by giving them more control over their personal data, this control is often an illusion. Most of us lack the time, expertise, and motivation to manage our data effectively. As a result, we often make decisions that are not in our best interests.

The "it's worth it" fallacy. We often share our data because the benefits, such as access to convenient services, outweigh the perceived risks. However, we may not be fully aware of the potential costs of sharing our data, such as the risk of discrimination or manipulation.

The "I have nothing to hide" fallacy. We may believe that we have nothing to worry about because we have nothing to hide. However, privacy is not just about hiding illegal or shameful activities. It's about maintaining control over our personal information and having the freedom to make our own choices.

7. Building a Better Data Ecosystem

We need to redesign the data game to create a better future for all of us.

Taming the sea. Creating a better data ecosystem requires a multi-faceted approach that includes:

• Opening the right channels: Making it easy for people to protect their personal data and difficult for companies to abuse it.
• Turning inertia into a superpower: Changing the default settings to favor privacy and self-determination.
• Closing the wrong channels: Imposing a cost on the collection and use of personal data and preventing any one entity from collecting too much data.

Privacy by design. We need to design systems that prioritize privacy from the outset, rather than as an afterthought. This includes using privacy-preserving technologies like federated learning and minimizing the amount of data that is collected and stored.

Collective action. We cannot rely on individual action alone to protect our privacy. We need to come together in small communities of like-minded people to collectively manage our data and benefit from it.

8. The Power of Data Co-ops

What wine co-ops can teach us about new forms of collective data management.

Winemakers' co-ops. Just as winemakers' co-ops allow small farmers to pool their resources and expertise to compete with larger wineries, data co-ops can empower individuals to collectively manage their data and benefit from it. Data co-ops are member-owned organizations that pool and manage their members' personal data to benefit the collective.

Benefits of data co-ops:

• Increased bargaining power
• Access to expertise
• Improved data security
• Greater control over data usage

Examples of data co-ops:

• The Driver's Seat Cooperative: A ride-hailing app that allows drivers to share their route data and benefit from the collective insights.
• Swash: A co-op that pays its members for browsing the internet by aggregating and selling web activities in a privacy-preserving way.
• MIDATA: A Swiss data co-op that allows members to contribute to medical research and clinical studies by granting access to their personal health data.

9. Privacy is Power, Not a Relic

Today’s data game looks nothing like this.

Privacy is not dead. Despite the increasing amount of data we share online, privacy is not obsolete. It is a fundamental human need that is essential for self-determination and freedom. Giving up on privacy means giving up on our ability to make our own choices and live life on our own terms.

The power imbalance. In the current data ecosystem, companies have far more power than individuals. They collect vast amounts of data about us, use it to influence our behavior, and often do so without our knowledge or consent. This power imbalance needs to be addressed.

Reclaiming control. To reclaim control over our lives, we need to demand greater transparency and accountability from companies, support data protection regulations, and come together in data co-ops to collectively manage our data and benefit from it.

10. The Future Requires a Moral Imperative

Although Mindmasters centers around data and technology, it is, at its core, an exploration of the human experience: how we want to both reveal and conceal, how we gain and lose by letting others into our lives, and how new technologies like psychological targeting require us to rethink the social contract.

Technological advancements. As technology continues to evolve, the potential for psychological targeting to be used for both good and evil will only increase. We need to be prepared for a future where microbots in our blood, smart contact lenses, and chips in our brain collect even more intimate data about us.

A new social contract. To navigate this future, we need a new social contract that defines what sharing our lives with others means in today's data-driven world. This contract should prioritize privacy, transparency, and self-determination.

Collective action. Creating a better data ecosystem requires collective action. It's not enough for individuals to protect their own privacy. We need to work together to create a system that benefits all of us. This includes supporting data protection regulations, joining data co-ops, and demanding greater accountability from companies.

Last updated: March 7, 2025