We live in a time that is all about being tuned in and logged on. Our friends are online, our interactions are online, and our personal information, opinions and history are online.
While we’ve learned in recent weeks that much more of our data is available to the government than we once realized, the millions of us that produce this data every day may not know as much about our digital DNA as we think.
Cesar Hidalgo and a team of researchers at MIT have created a platform for individuals to access their metadata. It’s called “Immersion” and it uses your email’s metadata to create a bubble map of your connections to others, providing a snapshot of our online selves that offers a glimpse into our work and personal lives, and tests our understanding of privacy.
Hidalgo is the head of the Macro Connections group at the MIT Media Lab, and one of three MIT researches heading up Immersion. He joins The Takeaway to discuss the Immersion process and the ways it visualizes our online presence.
Click here to use the Immersion platform and map your own digital DNA.