Topic: Behavioral Data

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted that the shortened quarantine guidelines were influenced by "behavioral science" and what the public would tolerate. Simultaneously, the CDC significantly revised its estimate of Omicron prevalence from 73% down to 23%, leading to questions about the agency's data accuracy.

A two-hour town hall meeting in Austin, Texas, addressed the city's homelessness crisis and the lifting of camping ordinances. Officials introduced the term "behavioral health" to describe the intersection of lifestyle habits and mental well-being. Tensions rose between city advocates, who referred to the homeless as "neighbors experiencing homelessness" or "camping," and residents concerned about public safety and sanitation.

A survey reveals that 56% of viewers skip online video ads and consider anything over 15 seconds to be too long. The hosts discuss the inefficiency of modern advertising agencies and the failure of "big data" to provide relevant consumer targeting.

Adobe's acquisition of Omniture is highlighted as a key part of a global tracking mechanism. The hosts note Omniture's origins in Utah and its links to Mormon-owned databases. They argue that this "advertising" data is actually a sophisticated behavioral profiling system used by the government.

The technical aspects of Omniture tracking via Flash cookies are discussed. The hosts explain that even if the tracking is intended for advertising, the resulting behavioral data is highly valuable for profiling. They recommend using tools like Ghostery to see how many trackers are active on a given webpage.

Harvard behavioral psychologist Marc Hauser resigned following an inquiry into the falsification of data in his research on monkeys. The hosts find the New York Times coverage of the story vague and "screwy," noting that the specific nature of his wrongdoing was not clearly explained. They question why mundane research on baboons would lead to such a high-profile scandal.