No travel conference is complete without a discussion on (Big) data - how to access it, what it means and what to use it for, as the obsession with personalisation grows.
And, last year's study from Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences on what Facebook 'Likes' say about a person got a lot of people talking and thinking.
A highly simplistic example for travel might be that in February, when it's cold and dark and you're under the weather, you buy vitamins, cold remedies and comfort food. But, what you need is someone to offer you a holiday.
Think back to that Forbes story two years ago of how retailer Target knew, from purchase behaviour, that a teenager was pregnant before her family found out.
But, perhaps less high profile is where it all might end up. Will law-makers step in? Will social media giants become more transparent with their plans? Or, perhaps a consumer backlash? Big data, big issues...
Former Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley recently questioned how useful data will be if regulators get involved.
Legislation is one potential scenario highlighted (and dismissed) in a TEDx talk from data scientist Jennifer Golbeck. She discusses some of the inferences that can be drawn from a Facebook 'Like' and talks about how, through more science, consumers might get back control.
Worth watching (the ensuing comments also worth a read):
NB: Data control image via Shutterstock.