Brittany Kaiser, a data rights activist and co-founder of Own Your Data Foundation, a nonprofit that teaches people of all ages about data intelligence sat down with Bryan Tyler Cohen on his podcast, “No Lie" in late December 2020. Kaiser is best known for being the whistle blower who exposed her former company Cambridge Analytica’s abuse of data in world-wide elections such as Brexit and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election. Today, she fights for more technology-first legislation while also teaching people how to protect their data through her nonprofit.

To date – just shy of 71,000 people around the world have been infected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) in which symptoms range from mild to severe. The disease has claimed the lives of 1,700 people (or just south of 2.5% of those infected). As governments scramble to halt the disease from spreading – tech companies are analyzing big data to predict emerging trends and combat the extent of the disease.

Can predictive analytics be used to forecast which movie will walk away with the top honor at the Academy Awards? Apparently not. While predictive analytics is useful to forecast future trends, behaviors and patterns- Oscar winners are not one of them. Often times it is used to lower risks, improve software or anticipate customer behavior. Combined with machine learning and algorithms, predictive analytics incorporate past and current data to provide the most logical conclusion.