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TD Magazine Article

Protect Yourself

A review of Mindmasters by Sandra Matz.

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Sat Feb 01 2025

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Mindmasters
By Sandra Matz
Harvard Business Review Press, 240 pp., $30

In her book, Matz writes, "Like the average person, you and I generate about six gigabytes of data every hour." Where does that data go? Who has access to it? And most importantly, what are the implications of that data being used and shared? Matz, a pioneering scientist in psychological targeting and a Columbia Business School professor, takes readers on a compelling journey to answer those questions in Mindmasters, a riveting three-part book.

People leave digital traces by liking and posting on social media, using GPS to get to a destination, and using a debit or credit card to make a purchase. That data paints a picture of who a person is, including their habits, preferences, and needs. Companies and government entities use the information to make predictions about individuals and their personalities and ultimately influence people's thoughts, behavior, and feelings.

Matz defines psychological targeting as "the process of influencing people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors based on predicted psychological characteristics." Discovering that concept made me wonder how often I have made a decision because of psychological targeting; it's probably a lot more than I realize.

The book includes real-world examples that illustrate both the bright and dark sides of using data for psychological targeting. On the one hand, data can diagnose and treat mental illness at an early stage and encourage people to improve by taking medicine, getting annual checkups, eating right, and exercising. Conversely, "anti-democratic institutions" can weaponize data to seed division, fuel hatred, and encourage disengagement. When people freely give away personal data, they part with the ability to make their own choices.

In the book's final part, the author offers thoughtful recommendations for changes in data management such as people having control over their own data. However, that approach alone is not enough to protect data. Society needs a better data ecosystem that makes it easy for individuals to protect data and difficult for companies to abuse it; more stringent regulations on technology giants such as Google and Meta; and "data co-ops," in which users decide with whom to share data and gain benefits from those choices.

With technology constantly evolving at warp speed, everyone's data is at risk. Mindmasters is an excellent, easy-to-digest guide on the importance of data privacy and protection. After reading it, you will likely never think about your own data privacy in the same way again.

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