Visited websites, online shopping, played songs, watched profiles on Facebook or messages published on social media – all those traces left by Internet users are a treasury of data for companies and can be used to influence their behavior. They reveal not only person’s likes and preferances, but even the kind of personality – says Dr Michał Kosiński, a psychologist at Stanford University and a graduate of the Social and Social Sciences University of Social Sciences and Humanities in his latest research.

– Our previous research has shown that you can accurately predict the psychological characteristics of a person when you get permission from him to access her Facebook profile. However, we have now proven that companies can target the users based on their psychological profiles without their consent. For example, liking of the “Party” page on Facebook correlates with extraversion, and liking of the “Stargate” page goes hand in hand with introvertism, this targeting (selection of an appropriate group of users with specific ads) allows to reach extroverts and introverts – says Dr. Kosinski.

The expert underlines that research results can help to develop a system of control and balance in the form of legal acts, regulations and IT measures to prevent the inappropriate application of this technology.