WEBVTT - My Quest to Get My Data Back From Facebook, OkCupid and More 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.560 It's been a month in a day since a massive 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.680 change took place in Europe. So g d PR. That's 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.559 the General Data Protection Regulation. It went into effect today 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.440 in Europe, already coming into effect on May the twenty five. 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.200 It applies to any company that collects personal data of 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:21.680 EU citizens customers, for companies of all sizes. This was 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.320 an end to business as usual. Now every European citizen 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.240 has the right to control what happens to their data. 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.240 There's never been allow like this before, and there are 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.680 potentially big penalties for companies that don't comply. Just how 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:39.400 huge four of global annual revenue. For a company with 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.279 worldwide sales of a hundred billion dollars, that could mean 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:49.720 penalties of four billion in certain circumstances. Almost every company 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.880 collects data about us, and they're all subject to this law. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.880 Until now, we've had very little control over how companies 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.480 use that information. It got me thinking about this new 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.920 law means for us, the consumers. So I decided to 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.600 find out. This new law gives us many powerful new rights. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.880 But how useful are those rights? What can I do 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:26.000 with them? Hi? M Aquito and I'm Nates Lanson, And 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.480 this weekend decrypted, Nate sets up to discover what data 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.280 companies have on him and how much that data is worth. 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.600 This new European law, called the General Data Protection Regulation, 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.759 opens up all kinds of new possibilities for us as 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.240 consumers to use our data for our own benefit by 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.759 protecting ourselves from hackers, making our online lives more convenient, 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.280 and maybe even making some money. This lot could also 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.640 foster new services to help consumers get the most out 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.240 of their data. I tried to find out how far 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:00.840 away those business opportunities are from becoming reality. Stay with us. 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.240 Perhaps the most well publicized part of this law is 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.560 that any European citizen now has the right to approach 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.840 any company and ask it to hand over all the 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.240 data it has on them, and the company has to 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:21.120 do this within a month. And Nate, let's quickly recap 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.480 why you would want to have mountains of your own 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.360 data like this. Well, there are several reasons. For some 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.880 people worried about security. We can ask for our data 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:31.280 back and then ask the company to delete it and 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.440 most companies would have to comply with that. Okay, makes sense. 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.080 Another reason is convenience. Many companies use our data to 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.880 customize the ads we see and the promotions we receive 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.519 from them. And the more data, the better the recommendations. Right, 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.400 and GDPR allows us to move our data from one 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.040 firm to another in order to have a better experience 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.760 with the companies we like or prefer using. The other 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.320 big principle in this law is about giving power back 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.119 to the user. Our data has helped companies like Facebook 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:03.040 and Google become enormously profitable. Now some of the games 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.480 might trickle down to ordinary customers. In theory, the law 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:08.880 allows us to take our data from one company and 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.760 give it or sell it to another. In theory, yeah, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:19.520 I'll get into that a little later. So sell us 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.200 which companies you reached out to. Well, at the top 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.200 of my list were the big guys like Apple, Facebook, Google, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.280 But of course this law applies to every company, not 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.720 just the Silicon Valley giants. Yeah, so I also went 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.280 to a handful of smaller companies, like a local food 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:38.080 delivery company here in the UK called Delivery and Okay, Cupid, 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.040 the dating site where I actually met my wife. But 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.000 my first challenge was to figure out how to submit 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.000 a request. The thing is, I'm glad you thought this 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.320 is a good idea, because when I first heard the idea, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.840 I thought, this is either never gonna work, or it's 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.160 gonna work and be a massive invasion of my own 0:03:55.200 --> 0:04:00.720 personal privacy at my own hands and my fault. I 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.280 asked an expert called Julian Saunders for some advice. Julian 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.760 is the CEO of a company called Sports, and he 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.520 helps businesses make sure they're complying with the new law. 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.640 We started by going through all the documents I'd need 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.680 to send off along with these requests. I'm guessing here 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.279 because no one's put these these principles into place yet, 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:23.160 but I'm guessing you're going to have to prove your identity. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:24.560 So in a way, I'm going to have to give 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.440 them personal information in order to get my personal information. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.719 That's a little bit of a dilemma, yes, but it's true. 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.880 It's an opportunity for businesses to learn even more about 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.200 you and ask you if your data. If I'm having 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.360 to basically say, okay, I want to check that you're 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.640 trustworthy and you're you're responsible enough to have my information. 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.160 So here's a scan of my passport and my driver's license. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.200 There's a delicious irony to that that that I didn't 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:58.760 fully appreciate. The law is so new that I wasn't 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.640 sure what to expect when I started submitting my requests. 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.000 Big profitable companies like Apple and Facebook have mostly created 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.839 easy one click landing pages where you can go and 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.960 request your data. For smaller companies, though, there's no one 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.279 click option, So I wrote a bunch of letters, and 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.760 for good measure, I went old school and printed out 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.120 hard copies in case I needed to use that classic 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.920 old system that postal service. My guess is that you're 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.360 going to be quite shocked at how many businesses aren't 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:30.880 fully GDPR compliant. Julian did warn me the new GDPR 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.120 regulations are so onerous and are such a big departure 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.600 from the way many businesses are used to operating. There 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:38.760 may be lots of companies that are still trying to 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.200 get to grips with the law, even though it officially 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.840 took effect over a month ago. The other thing is 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.640 going to be really interesting is the extent to which 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.880 they offer your data back to you, Because strictly speaking 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.280 with the guidelines, they should be giving you, of course 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.800 the information that you provided to them, but they should 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.800 then be giving you back all the related information that 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.520 has been generated around your profile while it's been in 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:08.839 their organization, and the degree of extra data that they 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:13.320 provide back is entirely dependent on their desire to be 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:17.440 open and transparent with you and to give you everything 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.520 that they've got, some of what they've got, none of 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.520 what they've got, And there's really no way to know 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.359 whether a company has fulfilled this larger requirement that Julian 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.080 is talking about. So bearing all this in mind, I 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:35.080 set out to get my data back. I'm starting with 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.240 the service that fascinates me the most, the dating site. Okay, Cupid. 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.360 You know, Nate, it's worth noting that you're married. Yeah, 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.120 I am, And I thought I deleted my account years ago, 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.479 and okay, Cupid definitely doesn't need my data anymore. So 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.280 I was in for a bit of a surprise when 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:56.880 I went to submit my data request and I've just 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.160 been asked and do I want to restore my account? 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:04.960 I've rest yes, And I'm actually now staring at my 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:09.520 old dating account, including all the messages that I sent, 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:16.960 my profile, pictures, my profile itself. I genuinely didn't see 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.239 this before that I'm seeing this for the first time. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:26.960 My account isn't even closed, it was just deactivated. You know, 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.520 you stand a little shocked here. I was. I genuinely 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.280 thought I deleted my account. But what I probably did 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.040 is just deactivated, which is an option okay Cupid office customers, 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.360 instead of deleting it. And if you had deleted it, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:45.160 would okay, Cupid be obliged to destroy that data. Well, legally, 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.080 they're obliged only to keep it as long as it's necessary. 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.920 It doesn't have to be immediate. But I did suddenly 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.680 have a bit of a mild panic. What if somehow 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:57.280 my wife got notified or somehow found out that I'd 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:04.000 reactivated my dating account. Hello, hey, it's me. I put 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.240 my GDPR letters down and made a quick call to 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.920 prevent any risk of divorce. I've just been on They've 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:14.040 still got my profile, which I've reactivated, and I just thought, 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.040 on the off chance that somehow you find out that 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:22.600 I've reactivated my profile, I'm not trying to date other people. Okay, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:29.080 that's fine, I'm really gonna have you anyway. Thank you, excellent, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.559 And I think I like your wife already. Yeah, She's 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.280 made it pretty clear that this is the last time 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.560 she's going to let me cruise through dating profiles after 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:39.040 she's gone to bed. But it was a stark reminder 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.440 that businesses don't always delete the data they have on 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.280 you just because you don't use this service anymore. That's 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.880 one of the new powers consumers now have. Many companies 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.960 have to destroy your data if you ask them to. Yeah, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.280 with a few exceptions, such as if a business has 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.040 what's called a legitimate interest in the data. So a 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:58.679 credit scoring company won't have to wipe your data if 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:00.920 you ask it, for example. But before I could do 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.640 anything with my okay Cupid data, I had to figure 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.160 out who to even send my request to. Okay. So 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.200 I'm staring now at my account page and I'm trying 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.800 to work out how to find who to send this too. 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.400 So I've gone into my account settings. There's a button 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:23.200 here says privacy. I'm being offered hidden users, blocked users. 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.400 This turned out to be harder than I expected. There 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.400 was nowhere obvious on the Okaycupid website to submit a 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:35.199 GDPR request. Okay, maybe gdp R, Nope, fine looking in 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:39.280 the footer again, I've got at trans choices about careers. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.679 Was a little little submit a success story I suppose 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:44.800 I could do that afterwards saying that I got married, 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.880 or maybe the success stories that I found how to 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:52.440 actually send this this information. I even tried buying contact 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.120 info for okay Cupid, but that didn't get me anywhere. 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:57.000 In the end, all I could do was send okay 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:02.480 Cupid help request. So I'm going to put in this 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.280 request as other help. I'm going to put subject g 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:14.120 d p R request tell us your problem. Hello. My 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:20.559 problem is that I couldn't figure out the fastest way 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:27.600 to send you a request for my personal data, and 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.360 it turned out this contact form was the best way 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:33.120 to submit my request. But it's been four weeks and 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.640 the company only just replied to ask for further proof 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.439 of identity. You know, I'm kind of surprised how difficult 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.000 of a time you've had because okay Cupid is owned 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.280 by Match dot Com, which is a publicly traded company. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.240 It's not like they're this tiny, under resource start up. Yeah, 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.720 I wish I knew. I mean, some companies just seemed 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:53.880 to make it difficult to get in touch, either pointing 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.960 users towards a generic inbox requests or asking users to 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.600 use a feedback form. It's not the first I've seen it. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.040 I don't know. That sounds pretty risky. If this law 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.520 has some pretty serious penalties for companies that aren't complying, 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.800 that's the thing. I have no doubt they are complying. 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.800 It's just that it's expensive for companies, even midsized ones 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.480 like okay, Cupid or Match, to fully automated system. There's 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.400 no formula for how data should be organized internally within 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.880 a company either, so a lot of companies are still 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.600 working things out and using more manual measures to make 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.640 sure that they can at least comply with the law. 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.360 I reached out to okay Cupid to find out why 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.480 it took so long to reply to my initial GDPR request, 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.119 but at the time of recording that email remains unanswered. 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.000 The next company I approached was Delivery. Now I've used 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.440 this food delivery company a load of times. You order 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:46.000 meals through its website or app and they'll have someone 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.280 bring it to you. It's the biggest competitor to Uber Eats, 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.839 although here in Europe, Delivery is actually a lot bigger 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:59.960 than Uber's service. Okay, well, let's just realize that deliver 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.520 rou is just around the corner, quite literally from Bloomberg's 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:12.400 office here in the financial districts of London. So so 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:14.640 of thought if I can give this letter to them 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:19.720 in person. As a relatively young but rapidly expanding startup, 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:22.400 Delivery is a good example of a company that's quickly 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.080 ended up accumulating vast amounts of data delivering hundreds of 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:28.480 millions of meals to its customers, and so it had 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.079 to build out its privacy team to ensure it complied 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.840 with the law. And it's also part of a surging 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:38.680 food delivery market with fierce competition across Europe. So all 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.240 that data has on you could be of great interest 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:45.120 to a competitor or vice versa exactly. And I really 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.400 like Delivery, so it's in my hands to make sure 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.000 it's the right company to have the records of all 0:12:50.080 --> 0:13:02.360 my embarrassing dining habits. Oh yeah, I can just slack Jill. Okay, 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:08.040 we can just leake. I was here to meet Jill Pollock, 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.160 Delivery's data protection officer. I was taken through Delivery's headquarters, 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.319 an open plan workspace complete with a miniature basketball court. 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.800 There was actually being used to screen a soccer game 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:23.840 while employees sat working on bean bag chairs how're they go? 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:29.600 Good to meet you? Hello, can I give you this? 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.560 This is a request for all of my data from delivery. 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.920 Oh yes, let me app and have a look. Okay, thanks, 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.480 Actually probably don't need to do that now, but at 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:41.200 some point in the next few days will be would 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.280 be contested. I'm taking it now as you're here in past. Okay, 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:51.040 thank you. Just checking that it's valid requst this will 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.640 be incredibly embarrassing if it isn't. Well, actually, there are 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.280 very few formalities which show needed for request. Just wanted 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.080 to check this same email dress that we have on 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.320 far for you. She allows me to verify that you 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.599 are truly who say you are. Um, So yes, we 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.080 can process this request for f you and 'll be 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.439 in touch with your data. For companies that process large 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.040 amounts of user data, GDPR requires them to appoint a 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.000 data protection officer to make sure that the public knows 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.800 exactly who they can go to if they have concerns 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.120 or questions about their personal information, and that's what Jill 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.640 does for deliver U. But I also wants to whether 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.520 any customers had tried to give her their data from 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:30.440 rival food delivery companies, so Delivery could personalize their service. 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.320 We have not had to request like this. It's a 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.200 very interesting idea. You're referring, of course, here to the 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.960 right of data portability, which is a new GDPR right. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.600 I think there's probably more appetite for customers to do 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.240 this with companies like social networks or perhaps the music 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:46.880 streaming services. I've been wondering whether a lot of people 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.000 are trying to now move their playlists to title now 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:53.840 the new Beyonce album is on that that's an interesting example, Nick. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.320 Do you think you'd ever consider doing something like that? Um, well, 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.240 if by Beyonce you mean Metallica or Flesh Got Apocalypse, 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:06.360 then maybe. Otherwise no, but there's probably an opportunity here 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.880 for smaller companies to encourage their customers to hand over 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.560 their data from a competitor like this. Yeah, if I 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.920 could get free burgers for a week with Delivery by 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:17.720 giving the company my burger buying history from Uber Eats, 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.720 I probably would. And so, with another GDP IR request filed, 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:29.440 I was good to leave Delivery's building. Well, that was 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:34.160 very successful. I don't really know what else to do now, 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:38.560 except wait, I suppose I'll get lunch. I should really 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:43.200 mules in there. After all that, Jill couldn't just hand 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.600 me my data, so I'm still waiting for Delivery to 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.640 send it to me. But I did hear back from 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:51.080 some of the big tech companies Apple and Facebook, and 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.000 within the giant archives he sent me, I found some 0:15:54.120 --> 0:16:10.360 extremely unexpected items. Okay, so so far in a you've 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:12.960 managed to submit your request to a bunch of companies, 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:17.320 some big, some small. Would you get back well. Shortly 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.920 after I was done with delivery, Facebook sent me an 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.880 automated alert saying my archive was ready for download. Okay, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:32.040 I am now unzipping my Facebook folder. Here. Let's have 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.360 a look. What have we got? Okay, this is This 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.920 is quite a large number of folders, twenty six folders here. 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:43.080 There are folders here titled ads, calls and messages comments. 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:48.120 This folder gives me eight hundred and eighty sub folders, 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.840 and by the looks of it, it's organized by um 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.200 by friends, so I can see the names of various 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.680 friends of mine. In fact, I can see numerous ex 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:00.560 girlfriends in here. Let's have a look at this one. 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.560 I'm asking one of my exes in two thousand and 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.840 seven whether she has a Flicker profile. I have no 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.160 idea why I would be doing that. I haven't seen 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.040 her in about twenty years. Nat, I think your wife 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.680 might have some thoughts about this. No, no, no, it's fine. 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.680 I actually invited one of my excess to our wedding, 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:22.520 so we're all on good terms. Oh, there's a video here. 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.040 This is a This is a video of my younger brother, 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.159 aged about six, dancing around with balloons stuffed up his 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.240 shirt and me in a set of pajamas teasing him 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:36.120 about it. That is a golden file to have on record. 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.639 I love that. That's so cute. You know it sounds 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:43.200 like Facebook Major data available in a pretty readable format too. Yeah, 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.640 they did. And actually that's what I found interesting. When 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.320 going through the request process, you can ask it to 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.280 give you data either in a machine readable format, which 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.399 would make it easier for another company to use it, 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.080 or in a human readable format, which makes it easier 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.760 for you and I to go through. And g DPR 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.240 doesn't say that you have to give that kind of option, right, No, 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:05.040 that's true, And many companies are actually also making these 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:08.280 tools available to everyone, not just those of us in Europe. 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.280 So you can go and do this yourself now, Aki, 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:12.639 Although turn Buck says, I've got the best video of 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.040 a relative shoving balloons up his shirt with underpands on 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:25.719 his head. Blacy. It wasn't long before I had an 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.120 email from Apple saying my data from them was ready 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:31.720 for download. Apple says it lets you download data about 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:36.000 the history of your app Store download activity, Apple music streams, 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:40.960 device information, market subscriptions, or email archives, calendars, and even 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.800 support requests. But I was interested in a category simply 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:51.760 titled other data. What exactly is other data? This lists 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:56.960 things like Apple TV call history. That's interesting. This is 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:01.600 a Comma separated values files. So this is like a 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.160 giant Excel spreadsheet field line after line with raw data. Yeah, 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:12.000 and inside the file with information I definitely wasn't expecting. Now, 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:17.080 this is interesting. This is showing me a list of 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.640 what looks like all my recent calls, at least at 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.960 the time I requested the data. This is showing mobile 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:30.040 phone numbers. It's showing whether they were connected outgoing calls, 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:35.119 missed calls, connected incoming calls. It's showing me the phone 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:39.000 numbers as well of whoever it was I was I 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:41.240 was talking to. There's also a line on some of 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:44.600 these phone calls. That says answered elsewhere, which I assume 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.239 probably means I answered the phone, but I answered it 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.600 on my iPad or my Mac or possibly even my 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.560 Apple Watch since they all connect to my phone. Um. 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:57.960 This is a data set that I definitely wouldn't want 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.840 to to get out the because it lists phone numbers, 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:05.400 it lists the duration in seconds broken down to two 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.720 decimal places, um, and things like that. So that's, uh, 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:15.159 that's a very interesting file to have. This kind of 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:19.240 metadata on calls and messages is the kind of detailed 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.400 police officers might request from companies to help them solve 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.880 a crime. Yeah, exactly. And it doesn't contain the content 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:28.359 of a call, but by knowing the time it took place, 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:31.600 the phone number of the caller, the length of the conversation, 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.400 even whether the call was answered or missed, it all 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.520 helps build up a picture of an individual's private life. 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:41.919 This data is obviously of a very sensitive nature, and 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:44.600 it's one of the reasons companies like Apple and Facebook 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:52.200 have spent billions of dollars securing their products and cloud services. Well, 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:56.399 I've just found another folder. Now, this is buried quite 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:01.000 deep in this directory. It's one, two, three, four, five 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:06.280 levels deep. Here and it's under stores activity and then 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:10.080 Apple TV and podcast Information. And here there are two 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:14.280 files that intrigue me. One is called your Podcasts. This 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:18.600 is a fairly standard COMMA separated values file that shows 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:24.440 the podcasts that I'd subscribed to within Apple's podcast app, 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:29.119 the U r L of the RSS feed, the title UM, 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.080 and a column called last touched on which I'm assuming 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:34.840 is the last date that I interacted with each of 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:39.480 these particular shows. But more interestingly, there's another file next 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:44.720 to it called podcasts play state. And this is a 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:50.040 gigantic file. So now what's a place state file? Whether 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:53.840 it contained about twelve thousand entries or more about individual 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.200 podcast episodes I'd listened to using Apple's app, which is 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:59.680 even more amazing considering that I only use that app 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:02.000 for a little while, although I do subscribe to a 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.240 lot of podcasts. Maybe this type of data would be 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:09.000 valuable to the developers of another podcast app to help 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:13.360 them personalize their services for you too. It is valuable, 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:16.240 but the trigger party is to get it correctly maps 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.280 to the episodes we have in our system. This is 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.000 Johann Bilgrin, CTO and co founder of a Cast, which 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:26.879 makes podcasting software and just for honest disclosure, A cast 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:30.359 hosts my personal tech podcast here in the UK. So 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.080 it's difficult to get the mapping correct and to actually 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:36.200 be able to port your data from one service to 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.320 an other, you need to get that mapp in correct 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:42.360 to make it valuable. So it's about so standardization is key. 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:44.240 It's not just about giving the data. It has to 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.400 be in a in a standard format that that everybody 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:50.919 is using in the same sort of ecosystem exactly the 0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:54.879 format and the mapping. I would say it's the biggest 0:22:54.960 --> 0:22:57.840 challenges and currently there are there is no standard. Do 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:03.040 you think a company would ever pay or otherwise incentivize 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.800 you to let them see the data from one of 0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:09.720 their competitors. That's a good question. Uh. You know, we 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:11.960 see that data is getting more and more valuable, and 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:14.880 you know people are talking about the new currency is data. 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:17.919 So that might be the possibility in the future, but 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:22.000 when it comes to podcasting, I don't believe it's in 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:28.960 the near future at all. So even with data being 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:32.520 portable from company to a company, it's not clear that 0:23:32.600 --> 0:23:35.520 businesses are willing to pay for it, not yet. No. 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:37.520 I think a big part of the problem is that 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:40.600 companies are giving us our data in commonly used formats, 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.960 but that doesn't necessarily mean it's immediately possible for another 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:47.080 company to start doing something useful with it. I thought 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:49.320 maybe there's a market for a third party service that 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.560 could convert data from one company into a format easily 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:55.600 usable by another. So I went back to Julian Saunders, 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:57.800 the CEO of Sport, to show him some of the 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:00.520 data I've got back from these companies and asked him 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:04.480 whether this could be a huge business opportunity. I'm absolutely 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:07.080 sure it is, and I think there will be a 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:10.280 lot of data broker type services that will emerge. But 0:24:10.320 --> 0:24:14.679 of course the real problem with that is that you 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:17.560