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Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy

VERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY, everywhere on the planet, dozens of companies — largely unregulated, little scrutinized — are logging the movements of tens of millions of people with mobile phones and storing the information in gigantic data files. The Times Privacy Project obtained one such file, by far the largest and most sensitive ever to be reviewed by journalists. It holds more than 50 billion location pings from the phones of more than 12 million Americans as they moved through several major cities, including Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Each piece of information in this file represents the precise location of a single smartphone over a period of several months in 2016 and 2017. The data was provided to Times Opinion by sources who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to share it and could face severe penalties for doing so. The sources of the information said they had grown alarmed about how it might be abused and urgently wanted to inform the public and lawmakers.

After spending months sifting through the data, tracking the movements of people across the country and speaking with dozens of data companies, technologists, lawyers and academics who study this field, we feel the same sense of alarm. In the cities that the data file covers, it tracks people from nearly every neighborhood and block, whether they live in mobile homes in Alexandria, Va., or luxury towers in Manhattan.

One search turned up more than a dozen people visiting the Playboy Mansion, some overnight. Without much effort we spotted visitors to the estates of Johnny Depp, Tiger Woods and Arnold Schwarzenegger, connecting the devices’ owners to the residences indefinitely.

If you lived in one of the cities the dataset covers and use apps that share your location — anything from weather apps to local news apps to coupon savers — you could be in there, too.

Top causes that lead companies to go bankrupt

Excessive Debt:

High levels of debt, whether due to overleveraging, poor debt management, or economic downturns affecting the ability to service debt, can lead to financial instability and bankruptcy. Companies that struggle to meet interest and principal payments may find themselves in a precarious financial position.

Poor Financial Management:

Ineffective financial management practices, including inadequate budgeting, inefficient resource allocation, and a lack of strategic financial planning, can lead to poor financial performance. Without proper financial oversight, companies may struggle to remain competitive and profitable.

Market Changes and Economic Downturns:

External factors such as economic recessions, shifts in market demand, or changes in consumer behavior can significantly impact a company's revenue and profitability. Companies that fail to adapt to changing market conditions may find it challenging to sustain operations and meet financial obligations.

Operational Inefficiencies:

Inefficient operational practices, high production costs, and poor supply chain management can erode a company's profit margins. Operational inefficiencies can lead to reduced competitiveness and financial strain, ultimately contributing to bankruptcy.

Lack of Innovation and Adaptability:

Companies that fail to innovate, keep up with technological advancements, or adapt to evolving industry trends risk becoming obsolete. Lack of innovation can result in declining market share, reduced revenue, and ultimately financial distress.

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Professional Development for Teachers

Brain Power Academy specializes in online professional development for teachers. Our PowerPD and Brain Bite courses empower you with new skills and tools for social-emotional teaching and remote learning based on the latest scientific research. Grow your skills to reach your students!

Online Professional Development courses for teachers that are actually engaging!

Most online professional development courses are dry and boring. Watching hours of videos is especially hard when you’re managing distractions.

Brain Power Academy is different. Rather than offering lectures, we created lessons that engage you through interactive features such as click-through videos, quizzes, and activities, all while learning at your own pace!

Cash is king and as Benjamin Franklin said (There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog and ready money)

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How does Cloud Computing benefit businesses?

There is a good chance you already use cloud storage to store the photos from your smartphone or to run software on your laptop. In the UK, SMEs are now gravitating towards cloud computing rapidly thanks to the fact that it provides a relatively low-cost solution to a problem whilst offering massive amounts of flexibility.

Cloud computing allows a type of flexibility that we have never enjoyed before. It also allows businesses to improve their services to work far more efficiently and educate employees on the benefits of Cloud Computing.

The Cloud will play an active part in helping you achieve many of your business goals as it can be a powerful tool and expansive in a way that seemingly knows no bounds. It can also offer cost-effective solutions and allow smaller businesses to expand without breaking the bank.

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Cash Flow - Business Finance Glossary

The Biz2Credit business finance glossary has the information of key financial terms used for your small business. This video explains the definition and meaning of the cash flow. Youtube.com…

Instead of your daily pipe-dreams, you highly need an open relationship with at least three different banks to finance your upcoming projects.

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Six Attributes Of A Good Call Center Manager

The shortage of good call center managers is hard to spot. Call centers always have someone holding that title. Often, they’re just not the right person for the job.

Fundamentally there are two types of call center managers:

Those who are technology and process driven.

Those who understand human motivational psychology.

Ideally, a call center manager will be skilled in both fundamentals.

From my experience, a successful call center manager is 75%/25%, with 75% being a solid comprehension of what drives employees to give their fullest potential to their work.

Technology can be learned; even mastered. Being able to motivate and lead a group of people, which defines a manager’s ability, is not as simple as applying generalized management principles.

If I were interviewing candidates for a call center manager position, I would look for the following six attributes (Notice I did not write “skills.”):

1. Ability to lead. During the interview, uncover if the candidate has successfully led a group of people. Presumably, the candidate has call center management experience, so ask about other leadership roles, whether it was in Boy Scouts, the military, schools, team sports, etc. How do they define their leadership style? How do they measure if their leadership style is the right style for their team? Have the candidate give at least two STAR (Situation, Task, Action and Result) stories where they lead a team towards the desired result(s).

2. A sense of humor. As a call center manager, my use of humor, to create levity, is my greatest asset. A call center manager who takes themselves too seriously adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful environment. Eventually, they will alienate their supervisors and agents. Being able to showcase the fun and enjoyable aspects of being employed in a call center, and there are many, along with the benefits of, and exploiting them will naturally keep agent turnover to a minimum while maintaining a high morale level. Does the candidate appear relaxed and approachable? Do they make remarks that make you smile and laugh? We all enjoy being around people who are genuinely fun to be around.

3. Able to sell ideas. Call centers are constantly changing. Therefore, agents must be sold on the benefits of any change. Selling ideas, selling anything, comes down to show “What’s in it for me?” We buy into ideas that benefit us in some way (i.e. making our job easier, reducing stress, removing a tedious routine, and increasing efficiency). You can ask candidates how they would sell the importance of following the dress code’s policy regarding proper footwear. Would they use the approach that wearing sandals and flip-flops is a health and safety issue? Agents will more likely understand why this policy exists and therefore comply because there’s a “What’s in it for me?” in protecting their toes and health.

Give the candidate a hypothetical scenario, or better yet one your call center has actually experienced, where the agents had to learn a new process, technology, or there was a change in policy and ask how they would have sold this change to the agents.

4. Understands management is not about having control. Most call center managers have the misconception that their primary role is to “put out fires.” If a call center manager is spending their day putting out fires, this is a sure sign that they are not giving enough authority to their supervisors and agents to make decisions. Does requiring authorization to pick up overnight delivery costs warrant putting the customer on hold (increasing the call handle time), the agent’s time to locate a supervisor or the call center manager and then their time? In past call center, managerial roles, how much authority did the candidate’s agents have? Is the candidate comfortable with giving agents a high level of decision making?

A good call center manager makes sure their supervisors and agents have the tools and training to do their job and to make decisions which are in the customer’s and company’s best interest and then — here’s the key — allows (READ: trusts) their agents/supervisors to make those decisions.

Management is about guiding people towards a sought-after result(s).

5. A visionary. Great call center managers are always looking at the big picture. They have a vision of what their call center will look like in a year’s time, 3-years’ time, 5-years’ time and are navigating their call center to where they envision it will be. They should be comfortable sharing their vision with their leadership team and agents.

Outsourcing, web-enabling, marketing, Do Not Call registry, advances in telephony technology, teleworking, have forced call centers to operate differently than they did just five years ago. Give the candidate an overview of your company’s business model and who are your competition, then ask how they see the next level of the call center looking? This is where the 25% (technology and process driven) comes in. Are they on top of current call center technology? Do they see where they can integrate CRM software and workforce management to enhance the caller’s experience? How about feeding back results, data, and customer feedback to various department heads throughout the company so business processes, product lines, ordering can be adjusted to accommodate changing consumer demands?

Today we expect to be able to order a pizza by simply giving our telephone number. The agent repeats back our address and has our order history. Not long ago, this was not the case. Major pizza chains now offer the ability to order online and thru apps. I would venture to guess most pizza delivery orders today are done online. In 2010 was this the case? How has this changed the way a pizza chain call center interacts with its customers? The latest buzzword, for what it’s worth: Omnichannel

6. Outside the box thinker. By far, the most critical attribute for a call center manager to have is creativity. I am a big proponent of incentives to reward certain behaviors and key performance indicators (KPIs) and therefore spend a good portion of my time creating, implementing, and maintaining incentives. The return I get is well worth it, and I find the more creative, but not complicated, the incentive, the better the results.

Being creative in upselling, such as creating value packages, will yield much better results than merely trying to tack on a product or service to an order. Being creative in using technology to create call center efficiencies, increase revenue (even uncover new sources), or manage agents’ productivity is what differentiates a good call center manager from one that is mediocre.

Managing a call center is an art.

Of course, there’s much more to being a good call center manager than these six attributes. Having common sense, logical thinking and being comfortable making quick decisions would rank up there. Must have hard skills would be excellent, if not superior, verbal, and written communication skills. When looking for a good call center manager, keep in mind hard skills, while important, can be taught; soft skills cannot.

The Precipice

I just finished another good book. Tony Orb takes us to the precipice in a new book that explores existential risk. He looks at natural risks like asteroids, comets, supervolcanic eruptions, stellar explosions, brightening of our sun, and orbital dynamics. He then explores those risks stemming from human activity (anthropogenic). These include nuclear weapons, climate change, environmental…

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Organizations with the most successful collaboration programs use a formal approach to manage cross-functional teams, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities on both sides of the partnership, backed by changes to internal incentive systems to promote full participation in collaboration projects. #holdingcompany #businessminded #businessquotes#businesssuccess  #businessman #businesstip#businessideas #womeninbusiness #businessmarketing#businessconsulting #businesspassion #socialmedia#businessopportunity #businesslife #strategy #businesses #growth#businessmentor #businessmotivation #entrepreneurs #creditrepair#coaching #businessplanning #networking #businessonline #consulting#contentmarketing #businessmanagement #businessconsultants#businessstartup #marketingtips #KhalidAlbeshri #pivot