Profiling Machines: Heroes, Games, and Techniques

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Profiling MachinesHeroes, Games, and Techniques

• Greg Elmer, Ph.D.
• Communication and Culture,
• Ryerson-York University
• gelmer_at_ryerson.ca

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Overview

• 1) Imagine more than the gifted criminal profiler
  
• 2) The Rewards Punishments of Consumer
  Profiling
• 3) The bundling of mediation and surveillance
  Media Profiling technologies

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1. The Criminal Profiler The new superhero?

• Adjunct Law Enforcement
• Fight true evil
• Asked to imagine the unimaginable crime
• Produces a picture of the probable criminal

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Imagining Criminals
Nightmarish Dream Sequence Gift for Seeing,
Imaging the Past Survey? A Pattern?
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Space and Escape
Imagining Space The vision is the pivotal clue
that leads to the capture of the Criminal The
Criminal that always escapes and haunts the
Profiler
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The Mind of the Profiled Criminal

• Into the Mind
• Failure the kind of character that didnt fit
  the profile
• Brother becomes successful profiler - FBI profile
  fails

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Racial Profiling Stereotypes?

• Racial profiling as prejudice
• show a pattern of profiling
• The challenge of racial profiling cases is that
  we start with statistics to get inside the heads
  of Police Officers

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2. The Rewards and Punishments of Consumer
Profiling

• Ubiquitous, intensive, voluntary Surveillance
• The reward hyper-customization
• Punishment Identity Theft
• Reward and Punishment are one in the same
  unearthing the real self

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Reward ---------------Punishment
Free T-shirt at hockey game-------lowering of
credit score --high credit
--identity theft http//www.sptimes.com/Ne
ws/092800/NIE/The_credit_crunch.shtml Research
question to what degree is this solicitation
transparent?
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3. Networked punishments disabling profiling
media

• Web Browser Cookies
• Initially (1996) there was no information for
  users about function of cookies
• Hyperlinks, the death of the PC, the end nodes of
  the Net
• Profiling and Web become inseparable, web
  interactivity web profiling,
• media functionalitymedia profiling

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TiVo Digital Video Recorders

• Focus on zapping commercials, less on profiling
• DVRs monitor viewing habits, suggestions
  automated recording
• TV becomes more familiar, makes multi-channel
  universe user friendly
• More of the same programs you like watch!

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More of the Same
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Profiling Personal Information integrated into
Media Machines (Conclusion)

• Automatic, forced, coerced collection of personal
  information habits, likes, and dislikes
• Cross references your pattern of behaviour with
  other consumers/constructs a profile
• Integrates your profile within digital media, to
  offer a customized media environment (a
  precondition for consumption)