The Disconnect Between Big Data and People

This is a guest post from, Daniel Matthews. He is a freelance writer from Boise, ID who specializes in culture, tech, and marketing. You can find him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

We’re moving ever closer to embodying a paradox in the business world.

Not long ago, I wrote a post for salesengine.com about using data to sell personally to B2b buyers. As I was writing the post, it struck me: people aren’t data-sets. Right? Gestalt psychology comes to mind here — the idea that we are more than the sum of our parts. Or in this case, more than a set of numbers representing our actions.

If people aren’t data, then what was I talking about? How can you ‘sell personally’ to someone by mining their demographic and behavioral data? Isn’t this the most impersonal form of sales? The kind where you aren’t getting to know them in their human form, but rather you’re getting to know them as numbers — numbers that ostensibly represent who they are.

This is the paradox: businesses view the person through an impersonal lens, using an algorithm and numbers to get personal. Yet it works. Somehow, we feel closer to people through big data.

Here’s a simple but interesting example: TSheets is a startup with a time tracking app for the cloud. With GPS tracking integration, you can watch where your mobile employees are in the field, a lot like how you can watch an Uber driver on the screen as they head your way.

On TSheets’ homepage, you get some data translated into information. Constantly updating, it’s a ticker with tidbits such as: “4 seconds ago, Patricia in Show Low, AZ signed in.” This info is part of the site’s user experience. No doubt, it’s there to humanize the app, to show that there are real people using the software.

I think the info does present a human element. There’s a person in Show Low named Patricia. I had no idea there’s a town called Show Low, which conjures thoughts of sleepy small towns dotting the American landscape, the inevitable multi-purpose gas station. The laundromat with old school arcade games.

If I wanted to, I could now research Show Low, I could even draw broad conclusions about what type of person Patricia is, and I could keep zeroing in. (Is that creepy?)

Big Data and Business

Companies use this exact same type of data to create customer personas, define target audiences, determine when the best times are to run ads, etcetera.

For customer service, they integrate customer data into their decisions, employing an “iterative process” to track “customer experience and actions.” The iterative process is dynamic, attempting to account for the ever-changing person. The intent is to inform a better relationship with the customer. The intent is also to get the sale closer to the consumer — to make it easier to lasso them into buying a product or service.

Big Data and Breaches

Unfortunately, companies don’t always keep our personal information protected. In one study, more than 55% of companies stated they don’t have a security strategy in place to protect information assets, online presence, or their IT infrastructure.

This highlights what is impersonal about big data. Because these are just number sets, there’s a disconnect between data and the livelihood of the real human being. The numbers are abstractions. They couldn’t be further from flesh and blood. If there was an actual life in a company’s hands, physically present and vulnerable, would the company leave the person out in the dark in a dangerous neighborhood? I wouldn’t want to support a company who would.

‘Personal’ and the Truth

Members of all organizations that mine big data must recognize a truth: the numbers are signs, pointing to where you and I live. As your company collects data on people, there are people collecting data on you. This means we need to prioritize caring about others now more than ever.

By care, I mean heightened scrutiny of what your company does with the data, scrutiny of security measures, and scrutiny of how your company treats employees.

Employees don’t want to be reduced to numbers. People want companies to be considerate of them as who they are — people. Here’s what a study from the Journal of Business Communication demonstrated: “Showing concern, communicating comfortably, being attentive, listening carefully, and being friendly all were associated with high levels of employee morale.” Anyone’s morale benefits from these things, not just the employee.