Colleges are turning students' phones into surveillance machines

[MineralMan]

12. Creepy. I agree.

It is, however, the future we face. We are all being tracked. Not so much as to where we are at any given time, but in what we do. On our cell phones and other mobile devices, as well as on our computers, what we do is followed closely by many. Almost all of us are connected to one of just a few cell phone companies around the clock. We all use Google or other search engines. We visit websites on a regular basis.

Almost everything we do is tracked. Not necessarily individually, but often that, too. But our behavior is tracked. Where we are is less important than what we do, wherever we might be. And that is of the most interest to corporate America.

Some call this "Big Data." It is that, but it's rapidly becoming "Complete Data." You can expect to see more and more context-specific advertising, wherever you go. If your car is nearby, you may well soon hear an ad for the Pizza place or MacDonalds you're about to pass. Or, you might see such an ad on the touchscreen display in your car or on your cell phone. We're not quite at that point yet, but we're not far from it.

What can you do about it? Not much. You can disconnect from everything, but then you lose the positive benefits of being connected.

Things change. This is one of the changes.