Correlations? Proxy? Harm?

  • what you buy predicts what you might buy (and therefore what coupons should be given)
    • maybe harmful to expose personal information
  • google flu - searches related to occurence
    • proxy; therefore could be wrong; impact depends on how it’s is used
  • Amazon book recommendations related to previous purchases
    • proxy; ok
  • words in hiring process correlated with expectation of work ethic
    • proxy; potential for harm due to poor correlations?
  • personality test correlated with work
    • information, but maybe not a good correlation
  • predicting illness based on your credit report / lifestyle / income
    • correlation is likely true
    • insurance company uses this to change your rate
    • ethical concerns about using this data to infer illness

What influences purchasing?

  • gender (males spend more)
  • number of children (more children = less spent)
  • age (younger spent less)
  • factors might interact