With few exceptions, we have digital footprints. And each time we scroll social media, run a Google search, or use a smartphone to navigate, we’re adding data to that footprint. While we gain a lot from our ability to do all these things, we also feed companies the data they need to target us.



Sandra Matz is a computational social scientist and professor at Columbia Business School. Over the course of her career, she’s consulted with companies eager to profit from our data. In recent years, she’s intentionally shifted her consulting work in support of organizations that want to protect consumer data.



In this interview, I talk to Matz about her book, Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior. We discuss the methods companies use to profile us and how that profiling puts all the power in their hands. We also discuss promising ideas for pushing back, including solutions to empower and unite us.



Matz has written an accessible, highly readable book that anyone with a smartphone needs to read. 



Episode Links



Now Isn’t the Time to Give Users Control of Their Data



Divided We Stand



Interview with Eric Johnson on the Science of Decision-Making



The Team



Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.



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