Assignment #2 Entire History of You PDF

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Professor Steven Bailey teaches this course. For this assignment, the questions were based on an episode from Netflix's Black Mirror. The main objective of this assignment was to describe the technology used, its function, and the potential dangers it could bring and/or brought upon the character's....

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Professor Bailey Acct 510-01 28 October 2020 The Entire History of You 1. Do you think the data was structured or unstructured? Structured data typically refers to that in which “resides in a fixed field within a record or file” such as relational databases and/or excel spreadsheets (Lindell). Unstructured data, however, refers to any and all data that does not reside in a traditional row-column database such as emails, word documents, videos, and audio files. This is significant because Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” focuses primarily on the use of a device called the “grain”. In addition, the grain “is essentially a personal video recorder built into [the characters’] consciousness” (Sidhu para. 3). This mere implant allows said characters to not only record and store all of their memories and experiences, but also allows them to replay them, even in the presence of their friends and family if they so wish. Therefore, because the primary data used in the episode takes the form of videos, I believe it is unstructured data. 2. How was the data stored? How was the data sold? In Lindell’s text, he describes how data is processed, created, and stored every minute over the internet in a variety of volumes. These “volumes” could come in the form of YouTube users, snapchat users, Facebook messenger shares, Siri questions/answers, online purchases, etc. Similarly, in the episode, the characters are able to store all of their data, or videos, in their grain implant. Unlike a typical smartphone, these videos are not only permanent but allow them to relive past experiences, that is, unless they choose to permanently delete them, leaving a gap in their timeline. Furthermore, because of this exponential growth in Big Data everyone, including

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major retailers, have sought to leverage such data as a means of enhancing value to both their customers and the organization themselves. In addition, to do so, companies first sell their data to third party companies who, then, “gather information about a [particular] customer’s behavior across multiple interactions with various entities” (Your Data Is Shared and Sold para. 13). Once enough information is gathered, these organizations will then be able to reflect on their current operations in terms of what they are doing right and/or wrong as well provide insight as to what they can do to improve said flaws. Although the episode does not necessarily explain how the data is sold, there was one scene in which shows how some corporations can utilize said data to their advantage. In the beginning, during Liam’s appraisal, in order to stay in the firm, he must participate in an exhaustive redo of his memories. The purpose of which was to ensure personnel whether he is indeed fit and more than capable of adhering to their standards and/or expectations so that they may, too, continue to enhance value to their customers and, above all, the organization itself.

3. Apply Lindell’s discussion of Dangers of Wrong Data to the discussion at the dinner party. According to Lindell, there are many situations in which the use of wrong data could jeopardize the integrity of the decision-making process, that is, when an organization does not fully understand the risks associated with Big Data. When using such data, it is important to be aware of biases and/or missing context as “sample error or bias could create data that is not representative of the situation”, more specifically, confirmation bias (Lindell). Confirmation bias is one of the most common inaccuracies as organizations and/or, in this case, people tend “to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s”

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values and beliefs (Confirmation Bias para. 1). For example, if a manufacturing organization were to falsely assume a particular variable was a strong predictor of customer retention, it could become detrimental in the long-run as it relied on said information to make crucial production decisions. Similarly, in the episode, the characters also briefly discuss the dangers of the use of wrong data as over half the organic memories they have are either junk and/or simply not trustworthy. The character Colleen, who works for grain development, goes on to explain how the grain’s data could easily be manipulated with over half the population potentially having false memories implanted in their grain simply from being asked leading questions in therapy. Thus, these therapy sessions could either alter one’s memory or create entirely new ones that never actually happened. This is significant because throughout the episode, we see Liam’s obsession between the supposed relationship of his wife Ffion and her old friend Jonas rapidly grow. As a result, we witness him persistently redo his memories as a means of trying to detect any and all small indications that may or may not in fact confirm this belief. Although his suspicions came true, we should also consider the “what if” scenario in which his wife may not have in fact had an affair with Jonas and Liam was, unknowingly, relying on biased information. Even though his wife assured him there was nothing going on between her and Jonas, Liam chose to ignore her and continued to search for data (memories) to confirm his preexisting viewpoint as they appear to be more “factual”. Nevertheless, regardless as to whether or not Ffion did in fact have an affair with Jonas, Liam’s excessive use of the grain “caused him to spiral into insanity and uncover dark things he probably never would have if he [had not] been implanted with it” in the first place, precisely why he chose to remove the implant nearing the end of the episode (Sidhu para. 5) .

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4. Briefly discuss the privacy issues, if any, surrounding the data. In Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You,” people have a device, known as the grain, implanted in them in which records everything they see and hear, enabling them to play them back and, essentially, relive those past experiences. The first time this privacy issue became evident in the episode was during the dinner party scene. In this scene, we are introduced to Hallam who, unlike everyone else, is grainless. When asked about why she does not have a grain, she explains how nearly 12 months prior, her assaulters forcibly removed and stole the device implanted in her neck. Furthermore, because her data was not encrypted at the time of the assault, her grain was most likely sold off, giving anyone and everyone access to all of her memories. This issue also became apparent in the episode as Liam proceeded to obsess and overanalyze past times when he had seen Ffion and her old friend Jonas together. As great as this technology may seem, good experiences also come with bad experiences, “[resulting] in some ugly truths being exposed” (Solove para. 3). In fact, Liam went as far as confronting Jonas himself about these very suspicions which, unfortunately, lead to him forcing himself upon the man into seeing and/or deleting any and all memories he had with Ffion by threatening his safety. As a result of this privacy issue, Liam inadvertently witnessed a picture of one of Jonas’ memories in his grain history of him and his wife in their house, that is, around the same time Liam and Ffion’s daughter was born. 5. Contrast the handling & use of data in this episode with Nosedive. In Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” and “Nosedive,” each episode’s form of data is used and handled similarly when each main character, Liam and Lacie, arrive at the airport. In one of the opening scenes to “The Entire History of You,” after Liam’s appraisal, we

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see him rushing to the airport in order for him to make it in time for his friend’s dinner party. This is noteworthy because typically, before one is able to proceed with their flight, they must go through extensive airport security. In Liam’s case, unlike your typical security, he is asked to use his grain to redo all of his memories made within the past 24 hours. This is significant because although its use may be considered an invasion of privacy, these memories can show what his true intentions are in terms of everyone else’s safety and whether or not Liam, himself, was in a good state of mind to ride his flight. As for “Nosedive,” upon arrival at the airport, Lacie immediately goes to the check-in desk and places her phone down because, unlike the grain, Lacie’s world revolves around a social credit system that is linked to everyone’s social media. Furthermore, before she can continue with her flight, the desk attendant uses and accesses her data on the phone to evaluate her overall social credit score. The main difference between her and Liam’s data is the amount of control they have as Liam is forced to share each and every detail of his memories he has made within his last 24 hours with airport security whereas Lacie has the power to control and decide what is and is not to be posted on her social media for the desk attendant to see. Nevertheless, although each episode handles their data differently, both used them for a similar purpose; to determine whether or not these individuals were suited enough to attend their flights.

Works Cited “Confirmation Bias.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias. Lindell, Jim. Analytics and Big Data for Accountants (AICPA) . Wiley. Kindle Edition.

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Sidhu, Shanaya. “Black Mirror Analysis: ‘The Entire History of You.’” CruX UCLA, CruX UCLA, 3 Mar. 2019, https://www.cruxucla.com/single-post/2019/03/03/black-mirroranalysis-the-entire-history-of-you. Solove, Daniel. “Black Mirror: A Powerful Look at the Dark Side of Privacy, Security, and Technology.” TeachPrivacy, 21 Nov. 2016, https://teachprivacy.com/black-mirror/. “The Entire History of You.” Black Mirror, season 1, episode 3, 18 Dec. 2011. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com “Your Data Is Shared and Sold...What's Being Done About It?” Knowledge@Wharton, 28 Oct. 2019, https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/data-shared-sold-whats-done/....