Cross Referenced - Part 3

In Part 1 of this series I described the process of Data Warehousing - where computer systems collect personal data about every detail of our lives. In Part 2 I describe a hypothetical but entirely possible nightmare scenario on what can happen if even a tiny bit of incorrect data gets associated with your computer profile. In this final installment I tackle the question of what can be done about it.

This should be a short article because the real answer is - nothing. There isn't much you can do - the wheels are already in motion and have been for years.

But I try not to write articles without some sort of advice or suggestion. What I'm about to describe is a theory I've been trying but it is certainly something I would NOT recommend. My theory is that if your computer profile is so messed up that it can't logically be correct, then someone - a person hopefully - will have to sit down and try to determine what is real and what is incorrect. Again - this theory is probably WAY off base and I do not recommend it - but this is what I've started doing.

Knowing that almost anything I do is tracked, I started to insert a little bit of harmless misinformation into my data warehoused profile. For example, USA Today won't let me continue to read the article I'm interested in until I complete a very short survey about who I am. So I complete the survey with obviously incorrect information. I'm an 18 year old CEO of a Fortune 500 company making $5.00 an hour. Now can I keep reading? I guarantee that somewhere in the data warehouse world I am indeed an 18 year old CEO of a Fortune 500 company. That information is going to lounge around in my computer profile for years before someone realizes that I should be making more money. I only do this when I am not logged into the site. It is their "cookie" files that will be used to connect this data to me. In my opinion, if that data really does get attached to my profile then it is as dishonest as me providing fictional data.

It is important to note that I never give misinformation on real items or when I am logged into a website. My credit is very important to me and I do not want to mess it up with something that boils down to a pet peeve of mine. But computers work on logic and anything that doesn't appear to be logical will raise a flag for someone to investigate. Maybe if more computer profiles turn up as illogical, it will start to be obvious that this cross referencing of information is dangerous and unreliable. But once more - I don't recommend others do this!