By 2023, it is predicted that the individual activities of 40% of the global population will be tracked digitally in order to influence their behaviour. The Internet of Behaviours (IoB) might challenge what it means to be human in the digital world.

The Internet of Behaviours extends from the Internet of Things (IoT), the interconnection of devices that results in a vast variety of new data sources. A single device, like a smart phone, can track your online movements as well as your real-life geographic position. It is not difficult for companies to link your smart phone with your laptop, your in-home voice assistant, your house or car cameras and maybe your cell phone records. Suddenly, companies can know a lot more about you - your interests, dislikes, the way you vote and the way you purchase.

Companies are increasingly using such information to inform how they sell, but it is not all targeted advertising. Data reaped from the IoT can be used for other reasons:

• Health providers can measure the activation and engagement efforts of patients.
• Organizations can test the effectiveness of their campaigns, both commercial and non-profit.
• Policymakers could even personalize content, affecting laws and current programs.

Companies using the IoT to get us to change our behaviours is not really about the “things” at all. As the IoT links people with their actions, we have verged into the Internet of Behaviour. Consider the IoB a combination of three fields:

• Technology.
• Data analytics.
• Behavioural science.

We can break behavioural science into four areas we consider when we use technology:

• Emotions.
• Decisions.
• Augmentations.
• Companionship..

As companies learn more about us (the IoT), they can affect our behaviours. Consider a health app on your smartphone that tracks your diet, sleep patterns, heart rate, or blood sugar levels. The app can alert you to adverse situations and suggest behaviour modifications towards a more positive or desired outcome.

For now, companies mostly use the IoT and IoB to observe and attempt to change our behaviour to achieve their desired goal—to purchase, typically.

Marketers and behaviour scientists tend to agree that this personalization is key to a service’s effectiveness. The more effective a service, the more a customer will continue to engage with it, and even alter their behaviour because of it. Understanding that this personalization provides value to us, customers might still avoid it because it feels creepy. This psychological discomfort can cause us to avoid it, a tendency known as the ostrich effect.

The IoB influences consumer choice, but it also redesigns the value chain. While a majority of consumers indicate unhappiness at giving away their data for free, many are satisfied with doing so as long as it brings them an added value.

Pulling from the IoT, insurance and banking companies can provide data-driven value. Optimize your individual premium based on health habits or a clean driving record. Nudge you towards more saving, investing, or other long-term financial goals.

Also, the health app that tracks our diet, sleep, heart rate and blood sugar might prompt us into certain behaviours, like losing weight or going on a diet. Without proper medical guidance, we may alter our behaviour too much or too aggressively. But we must also keep in mind that, the apps we use to assist us are commercial, so their health provenance is dubious and they have their own goals: sell.

The IoT itself is not inherently problematic. A lot of people like having their devices synced and get benefits and convenience from this setup. Instead, the concern is how we gather, navigate and use the data, particularly at scale. We are now starting to understand this problem.

It is not just the devices themselves. Behind the scenes, many companies share or sell data across company lines or with other subsidiaries. They continue to acquire software that potentially brings a user of a single app into their entire online ecosystem, frequently without our permission. This presents significant security and legal risks and there is little legal protection in place for these concerns.

The IoT surely converts data to information. But it is too early to know whether the IoB can translate knowledge of us into real wisdom.

Disclaimer : The views and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organisation, committee or other group or individual.