BBC reporter explores how technology predicts users' sexual orientation: an analysis of one person's experience

When technology predicts your sexuality: the story of BBC correspondent Ellie House

In today's digital age, where every click we make and every time we watch invariably portrays our preferences, interests and even our identity, BBC reporter Ellie House's thought-provoking experience of finding that Netflix seemed to predict her sexuality before she even identified it, through her viewing habits. She found that Netflix seemed to predict through her viewing habits that she might be bisexual before she identified her sexuality.

Ellie realized during her sophomore year of college that she had unusual feelings toward the same sex, but to her surprise, it seems that tech giants like Netflix had predicted this months earlier through her viewing history and preferences. She found herself increasingly receiving recommendations for TV shows with lesbian storylines or bisexual characters that weren't being received by her friends.

This phenomenon begs the question: how do these tech platforms do this? Platforms like Netflix and Spotify use powerful recommendation systems that analyze a user's viewing and listening habits to predict what content they might be interested in. For example, Netflix categorizes movies and TV shows and recommends content based on a user's viewing history.

Behind the accuracy of this recommendation system, however, lies a potential invasion of personal privacy. Avery downloaded all of her information from eight of the largest platforms and found that Facebook tracked other sites she visited, even including her home address. While there is no evidence that these platforms directly flagged content related to her sexual orientation, the collection of this information undoubtedly raises privacy concerns.

In this data-driven era, we enjoy the convenience of technology, but we also have to face the risk of privacy leakage. Ellie House's experience reminds us that when we explore and express ourselves online, there may be a pair of invisible eyes silently observing, analyzing, and interpreting us even before we know ourselves. While enjoying the personalized experience brought by technology, we should also pay more attention to and protect our data privacy to avoid becoming the unconscious victims of data analysis.