Modern companies are hungry for personalized, high-quality customer data that they could use in order to optimize their offerings, stocking, production, and predicting future trends. Data allows certain companies to outpace their competition and save money on selling and designing new products. An example of such would be Under Armour, which uses SAP HANA to track the performance of its users, as well as the strain on the material, and other important data from both casual buyers and professional athletes (Vandervelde, 2016). Another example of high-quality data acquired is facial expressions to gauge the reactions people have from performance, which is used by cameras in Cirque du Soleil (Yu, 2019). This paper will analyze their current and potential use of data-gathering technologies.
Although the technologies used have been announced to collect specific types of data from customers, they can be expanded to include more. For example, SAP HANA can be used to collect derivative data from users in regards to their physical health or be used to track individuals and map out their movements (Vandervelde, 2016). The face-recognition and analysis technologies used by Cirque du Soleil can be used to evaluate not only the emotions of happiness or disapproval but potentially record individuals that visitors come with (Yu, 2019). It can also be used to track and identify people, record what they are speaking, and various other uses.
Some of this data may be valuable to companies, but the potential for malignant data usage is significant. The ethical issues associated with commercial surveillance include tthe lack of consent and the potential for abuse. Many companies, including Under Armour and Cirque du Soleil, largely handwave at notions of consent to be recorded as well as certain aspects of privacy. Often, they utilize overly verbose and nagging pop-ups and means of getting individuals to waive their privacy rights, in order to legally collect data.
This data can be used to potentially endanger users, should someone in the company handling data decide to abuse their rights. This has already happened with Apple, where an insider utilized access to personal data to leak it into the Internet (Baliunaite, 2020). Therefore, the desires of companies to acquire extra profit, masked behind words of better customer care can be opposed on ethical and legal grounds.
References
Baliunaite, I. (2020). Woman posts a warning for people after realizing Apple employee stole her nudes. Bored Panda. Web.
Vandervelde, M. (2016). In-memory databases: Their rising popularity and Under Armour’s use of SAP HANA. Turbonomic. Web.
Yu, E. (2019). Cirque du Soleil spotlights visual data to better understand audience. Fast Growth Brands. Web.