DATA MINING | The Checkout | ABC1

Back in the old days
advertisers had to speak to everybody

to reach the few
interested in their product.

(TV announcer)
From the dairy case, only a $1.39.

Smile at the 50 cents savings.
MAN: Nice!

But today, companies
can reach us directly

with the right offer
at the right time.

(TV announcement)
I'm going to have a full head of hair

again, guaranteed.

NARRATOR: Even if we don't know it yet.

Right now in Australia,
some retailers automatically

offer us personalized vouchers
based on what we've just run

through the checkout.

MAN: 15% off TV props!

NARRATOR: But in America,
it's gone way past that.

Last year, Target sent a teenage girl
vouchers for baby clothes

and maternity wear.
Angering her father in the process.

FATHER (yelling): This is totally
inappropriate! You're sending

these out to children!

NARRATOR: That was until he
discovered that his daughter

was, in fact, knocked up.
FATHER: (sobbing).

NARRATOR: Target worked it out
before Dad did by analyzing

the shopping records of women
on their baby shower registry

and noticing there are a whole
bunch of products that women

tend to buy when they are pregnant.

So they came up with a pregnancy
prediction score for other women

buying the same items
and even roughly guessed their due dates

to send out perfectly timed baby bargins.

SALESMAN: 50% off Nappys!
WOMAN (screaming)

SALESMAN: I'll see if I have any in stock.

NARRATOR: Companies can tell when
you are about to move house,

when you're kids are going to graduate,
when you're thinking about buying

a new car,
They can pretty much read our minds.

MAN: Ooooh 20% off vasectomies.

NARRATOR: And in most cases,
we have willingly handed our

information over.
Take loyalty programs for example.

They aren't about rewarding you.
They are about spying on you.

SALESPERSON: Would you like
to join priceline sister club?

MAN: Ooooh, what does that involve?
SALESPERSON: Well, you give us

your name, address, date of birth,
sex, phone number and email

and we record every single purchase
you make and share that information

with third parties, then we can buy
even more information about you

from third parties
so we can sell you more stuff,

and, if you not only give us
all that information,

but also spend $100 in store,
we'll give you voucher for $3.00

which you most certainly
can throw straight in the bin.

MAN: Where do I sign!

NARRATOR: All those lifestyle
surveys and competitions,

they are just bribes for market research.

MAN: Yeah, but all I need to do is tell
them how much I earn, where I live,

how many kids I have, what magazines
I read, my debits and securities

and I can win an electric golf trolley!
For golf!

NARRATOR: And then there is the
mountain of data we create using

our credit cards, mobile phone
location services, social media updates,

google searches, actually pretty much
everything we do online.

MAN: Wait, wait, wait.. everything?
NARRATOR: Uh ha..

And it's only going to get worse.

With an estimated one trillion
internet connected devices

in the world, by 2015, real life
and the digital universe

will soon become one.
MAN: Like in the Matrix?!

NARRATOR: Not the Matrix -
Minority Report.

In 2010, General Motors filed a
payment for billboards target

passing vehicles based on data
from their onboard navigation systems.

They want to show you ads based on
where you are going,

or how long you've been driving.
They even plan on working out

the age and sex of vehicle occupants
through voice analysis. That's right.

You're GPS could be listening to you.
MAN: Are you???

MAN: Cool.
NARRATOR: It's not cool, Ben.

Companies like Axiom are selling
your data right now.

(on monitor: We have 1600 elements
including ethnic and behavioral categories

and with more sources than ever before,
our accuracy is unparalleled.

NARRATOR: They are making a mint
out of your information.

MAN: Yeah, so am I.
NARRATOR: Jees Ben, can't you see

where this is going.

It's weird.

MAN: It's Tom Cruise!
Everything he does is weird!

NARRATOR: Ok, let me get some help here.

MAN: Who are you?
MAN (2): I'm an expert.

MAN: Expert in what?
MAN (2): This is TV. Does it really matter?

MAN: I guess not.

MAN (2): I mean sure it's great to get
advertising that's particularly relavent

to you. But now that companies know
more about you and your behavior

than you can possibly imagine,
they target you when you're

at your most vulnerable
and open to suggestion.

It's not that you're actually
getting the best products,

you're getting the best
marketed products.

What about if this company
that has all your information

and sells it illegally, like T-Mobile
did in 2009 in the UK.

MAN: Well, that sounds...
(cell phone beep)

MAN: Cheap ice cream!
I'll see ya.

NARRATOR: I think we lost him.

NARRATOR: In Europe they are trying
to fight back against this sort of thing

with laws that force companies to tell
you what data they're going to collect

and what they want to do with it

But in Australia, you're pretty much
on your own.

So, if you don't want to be bombarded
with personalized ads,

don't sign up to loyalty programs,
install tracking blocking software

on your computer, only use cash,
turn location services off on you mobile,

and that way advertisers won't be able
to target you.

I'm not bloody pregnant!