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Big but personal data: Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye at TEDxLouvainLaNeuve

2,950 views · Published 20 January 2014 · 13:49 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2014 · Nonprofits & Activism

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We're living in an age of Big Data; a time when most of our movements and actions are collected and stored in real time. 
This data offers unprecedented insights on how we behave as a species. Mathematical analysis reveals how unique our individual behavior is and how this behavior puts fundamental constraints on our privacy.

Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye is PhD student at the MIT Media Lab. He develops stochastic tools to harness the power of big data, such as human movement and communication patterns in networks.
Before coming to MIT, he was a researcher at the Santa Fe Institute where he used cell phone data to model the dynamics of urbanization in developing countries. Over a period of 6 years, he obtained a M.Sc. from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Applied Mathematics, a M.Sc. in Engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris and a M.Sc. from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Mathematical Engineering.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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