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The tangled web we weave

Everybody lies. We lie to our friends, to our co-workers, to our parents, spouses, children… the list is endless. But the one entity we do not hide the truth from is our most trusted advisor, the Google search box.

The tangled web we weave

Giving away too much? The writer says people will always tell Google things they don’t tell others



Vaibhav Sharma

Everybody lies. We lie to our friends, to our co-workers, to our parents, spouses, children… the list is endless. But the one entity we do not hide the truth from is our most trusted advisor, the Google search box. So, can an analysis of what people are searching for give us a better mirror into the society than anything ever has? This is the subject of US data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s new book titled Everybody Lies: What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are, published by Bloomsbury, in which he explores anonymous Google search results and uncovers telling insights into our desires, beliefs and dispositions. In a conversation, the author talks about his book, and the lessons learnt and the prejudices exposed.

There may be a number of people who are still trying to understand what the world refers to as ‘Big Data’. How would you explain this new-age mode of empirical study to them?

I think people shouldn’t obsess about the size of datasets, which is frequently overrated. The key reason there will be a revolutionary understanding of human beings is because there are now so many sources of data.

In your book, you place a lot of credence on Google Trends as a unit of measure. Do you think there is scope for manipulation here, just as trolls amplify sentiments on social media?

Google puts a lot of resources into figuring out who are bots and not counting this in their data.  However, the fight might become more difficult as the data is used more and more in decision making.

As people become more aware of how big data works and given privacy concerns, will the reliability of Google Trends et al. diminish as more reliance is placed on Incognito Modes, VPNs and other anonymous browsing solutions?

This is possible. I think people will always tell Google things they don’t tell others. The reason is incentives. You have an incentive to tell Google the truth to get information you need.  However, there is some research that people became less honest to Google after Edward Snowden’s revelation.

The book makes the reader realise how much personal information, albeit anonymised, he or she is giving away without even thinking about it. Will people start to try and mask that, or will we be happy to browse regardless, basking in a supposed coat of anonymity?

I hope people continue to browse regardless. I think your data is more safe with Google than just about anywhere else. Google has hundreds of billions of dollars of incentives to protect your privacy. If Google didn’t protect users’ privacy, people would stop using Google. 

Going forward, do you think more and more election strategists will start to use tools and methodology that you describe in your book, rather than relying on misleading polls? Since the answer will probably be in the affirmative, the bigger question is the kind of impact that will have?

Yes.  I think internet sources will become an important tool in forecasting elections.  However, it will take time to have enough elections to build the models. 

The book is filled with interesting facts and figures and gives readers a great understanding of the world we live in. When you decided to write the book, did you think there may be practical learnings from it that readers might introduce into their lives?

I hope readers feel less insecure.  People might worry that other people’s lives are much easier and happier because people frequently lie about how easy and happy their lives are.  When you see the true data, you realise most people find life difficult. 

As someone who has worked with Google, and also observed technology at work from close quarters, what is your understanding of the direction we as a species are headed towards when it comes to privacy. Will we become comfortable with the idea of someone always watching, or we might be on a cusp of people fighting to reclaim it?

I think there are ways we will become comfortable with internet companies knowing so much about us.  There have always been some sources with whom we have shared complete information, for example, doctors.  Now we share our full information with Google.

Google and Apple control Android and iOS respectively, and together they have complete dominion over the most important piece of technology we own, the smartphone. Google wants users to give up and trust them with as much data as possible, while Apple seems to always strongly argue otherwise. Who is right? Or is there actually very little that separates the two, public perceptions aside?

I think, as Apple realises how valuable data is and perhaps gets into the advertising business, there will be little difference between the companies.

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