MyDataJapan Director Ota explains the dangerous digital reality that you need to be unaware of
Hello! Today I'm going to show you the NHK program that was broadcast last week."Tilsil"1I would like to introduce the contents of a rather important story that was featured in the program. Let's take a look at what is actually happening behind the scenes of the "recommended features" of the SNS that we use every day without thinking about it, with the insight of Mr. Ota, a director of MyDataJapan.
📱 Useful, but... a little scary? Recommended SNS features
"When I searched for skin care products, ads for clothes came up..." "I was able to go to a place I wanted to see!"
Have you ever had a similar experience?
The recommendation function on SNS is certainly useful. It saves you the trouble of having to search for information from scratch and can lead to new discoveries. However, Director Ota points out that,The danger of being stuck and unable to get out.
🔄 SNSのおすすめのサイクル
興味のある投稿を見る → 関連情報が表示される → さらに深く見る → もっと関連情報が...
🕵️ This is how much information we have about you
According to Director Ohta, the reality is that social media companies are "using various means to collect information about people." Specifically:
📝 Information entered manually
- Date of Birth
- Sex
- Address
- Profile information
📊 In-app actions
- Which posts did you like?
- What did you search for?
- What videos did you watch?
- How long did you watch it?
📱 History of other apps
This is surprising, and search history from apps other than SNS apps is also collected!
📍 Location information
- Where the photo was taken
- Where did you shop?
- General range of activities
🔍 The process from collecting information to displaying recommendations
🎤 Is it true that your smartphone is listening to you?
This phenomenon is felt by approximately 3% of junior and senior high school students.
"If I mention a cosmetic treatment that I'm interested in, it will appear in a story..." "If I mention a TV show, a clipping from the show will pop up on social media..."
So NHK conducted an experiment in which they gathered four high school students in a cafe and had them talk freely to see what would happen as a result. Two of them were allowed to use their smartphones, and the other two were not allowed to use their smartphones. The experiment was then followed to see what would happen to their SNS timelines afterwards.
During the conversation, when asked "Where would you like to live if you were rich?", keywords like "Czech Republic" and "A house with a spiral staircase" came up. After the hour-long conversation, the two of them looked at their social media timelines, even though they hadn't touched their smartphones, and saw Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic) and a spiral staircase appear, leading everyone to say, "Maybe they were asking us?!"
📞 Responses from social media companies
However, after inquiring with each company, we received the following:"We don't collect casual conversations."
👨💼 Director Ota's opinion
Reasons for not collecting audio:
- The cost is not worth it
- Ethically questionable
💡 Surprising Truth: Sharing Information via Wi-Fi
In fact, the verification experiment revealed thatIf you are connected to the same Wi-Fi, information will be shared.That there is a possibility.
| Experiment content | Result |
|---|---|
| Other people searching for "spiral staircase" on the same Wi-Fi | "Spiral staircase" appears in my recommendations |
| the reason | The assumption is that people who are in the same place have similar interests. |
🫧 The dangers of filter bubbles
Director Ota is particularly wary of a phenomenon known as "filter bubbles."
What is a filter bubble?
"It's like an invisible bubble is created around me, and the information I like comes in all the time, but all other information is shut out and nothing else comes in."
😰 True horror stories
One university student's experience:
- Get hooked on extreme diet information
- I only believe information on social media
- As a result, I developed an eating disorder...
Her words, "I was simply obsessed with the information on social media," show the seriousness of the problem.
🛡️ What we can do
🏢 Social media companies' response
- Usage time limit function
- Parental content check feature
👤 But that's not enough...
Director Ohta emphasized:"It's not just kids who need to know, adults need to know too."
✅ What we can do
- Diversify your sources of information
- Don’t rely solely on social media
- Get information from multiple sources
- Use social media consciously
- Think about why this information is being displayed
- Decide on a time to use
- Be aware of filter bubbles
- Actively look at information that is not related to your interests
- Listen to dissenting opinions
💭 Message from Director Ota
"Everyone, please be careful. The recommendation functions on social media are useful, but it's important to understand what's going on behind the scenes. We who live in the digital age need a new literacy."
📈 Summary: The risks of social media as seen in data
| Item | Current status | Risk level |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of personal information collection | Collect history outside the app | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ |
| Filter bubble | Approximately 3% of users have experienced | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ |
| Health effects | There are cases of eating disorders, etc. | ⚠️⚠️⚠️ |
| Measures for companies | Limited | ⚠️⚠️ |
One last word
Depending on how we use SNS, it can enrich our lives, but it can also put us at risk. As Director Ota pointed out, it is important that each of us is aware of it and use it wisely.
How will you interact with social media recommendation features starting today?
This article is from NHK's Chirusir (5/30)It was created based on the contents of the article. The handsome Ota-san is alsohttps://plus.nhk.jp/watch/st/g1_2025053133217?t=676 Check it out! The distribution period ends on Friday, June 6th at 6:5 PM.