Organisations today collect, analyse, and use customers’ data to enhance their overall

performance and competitiveness. Tracking technology captures information that allows

companies to promote products and services. For marketers, the technology is a game
changer, giving clues about which product and services are best suited to a customers' taste.
Business Analytics (BA) support marketers through data sets, which offer well-timed content
for lead nurturing with predictive and adaptive analytics.

Predictive analytics is built on customers digital footprints; websites visited, products

purchased, and content shared. Predictive analytics equips marketers with the tools needed
to understand customers’ purchasing habits, to devise strategies for improving customer
experience. On the other hand, adaptive analytics comprises data and insights that leverage
real-time capabilities to provide accurate and up-to-date information. Persistent technologies
allow for persistent collection across devices and are using unorthodox methods for collecting
users’ data without consent (Pattabhiram 2016). Adaptive analytics is used to build models
that translate harvested data into building profiles for psychographic segmentation to a
prospective group of customers (current or previous) by demographic information such as
age, gender, beliefs, values, and lifestyles.

As a consumer myself, there are ethical concerns as the collection methods raise transparency
and accountability concerns about the collection and management of personal data.
Consequently, consumers may gain value from personalisation when companies collect data,
supposedly in an attempt to improve customers overall experience while on their website.
Conversely, it can be argued that consumer rights are being disregarded, on the premise that
market insights can cause consumer frustration from being consistently bombarded with
recommendations, as well the threat of data leakage. For example, if a consumer search
online to plan a vacation, then they will subsequently be constantly presented with cheap
flights, and hotel deals on almost every website visited, even on their mobile devices.

CubeYou is one such company which uses unorthodox methods of gathering data from
platforms like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, which the company uses to build a
psychographic profile. Following which, CubeYou would contract advertising agencies to
target specific types of users for ad campaigns. It would offer marketers fast, comfortable,
and accurate consumer insights for tailored content targeting and customer manipulation.
The company is utilising both forms of analytics but uses questionable ways of collecting data.
For example, CubeYou created an application called “You are what you like”, a personality
test for collecting personal identifiable information (PII), such as name, email address, phone
number, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, mobile IDs, browser fingerprints, and other unique
information (Hern 2018).

In closing, companies have tried to sell the idea that they collect anonymous data from
consumers, and that information and rights are protected. However, Cambridge Analytica and
CubeYou have proven the extent to which companies will go to collect PII and use the
information for personal gain, with a total disregard for transparency and accountability.

The European Union (EU) has embarked on a campaign to review the manner in which
companies are collecting and using consumers data. It is working on improving transparency
through the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Tankard
2016). The GDPR will provide consumers with greater control over their data, reduce the
capabilities of ad-tracking programmes and allow users to opt-out of email campaigns.
Companies will be required to reduce unethical data collection methods and must comply
with consumers request of data request/deletion.

I am concerned of the method CubeYou and Cambridge Analytic used to collect and harvest
customers data. Customers’ information must be protected companies should provide an
opt-out option for campaigns that track online activities, even if the tracking would improve
the customers’ experience.