The shoe ad that followed you
On Monday you search for red trainers in one app. On Tuesday a different app shows you an advert for red trainers.
Nobody read your mind. The apps kept a record of what you did. Today you find out what is recorded, where, and why.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Digital footprint | the trail of data you leave when you use digital services | |
| Monitoring | watching and recording something over time | |
| Targeted marketing | showing adverts to the people most likely to want them | |
| Smart device | a device that connects to the internet and can be controlled or can listen | a virtual assistant |
| Sensor | a part that measures something, such as heat, light or movement | |
| Internet of Things | everyday objects with sensors that send data over the internet; the short name is IoT | |
| Location data | where a person or a device is, and when | |
| Personal data | facts about a real person who can be identified |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can say what data is recorded by apps, places, smart devices and sensors, and give one use of each.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Five places data is recorded
| Where | What is recorded | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Online applications | Logins, searches, clicks, what you open | Targeted marketing across the apps one company owns |
| The physical world | Location, and card payments at many shops | Seeing busy places and a customer's buying across sites |
| Smart devices | Voice requests, thermostat settings, door locks | A virtual assistant that learns your habits, and home management |
| Internet of Things | Sensor readings sent over the internet | Alerts when a reading goes over a limit |
| Technologies in industry | Heat, power, movement, vehicle position, machine counts | Building management, transport and manufacturing |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Online applications and your footprint
Every app logs access: who logged in and when. It also logs searches and clicks. Together these make your digital footprint.
A company with several apps can join the logs. A search in the shop app then shapes the advert in the music app. That is targeted marketing.
Run it: one person across three apps
select person, count(distinct app) as apps, count(*) as events
from app_log
group by person
order by events desc;The physical world and smart devices
Phones share location data. A card used in three shops makes three records, which a bank can join. Loyalty cards do the same for one chain.
A smart device at home, such as a virtual assistant, records what you ask. A home system records when heating and lights are on. This helps manage the home, and it also says when nobody is in.
The Internet of Things in industry
The Internet of Things (IoT) is objects with a sensor that send readings over the internet, all day.
A building system tracks heat and power in every room. A bus fleet tracks where each bus is. A factory counts items on a belt and checks machine heat. Analysts turn the readings into alerts and reports.