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You're listening to Ted Talks Daily, I'm Elise Hugh. Big data and geo-targeting touches

our lives in so many ways, finding us to recommend products and sell us more things, for example.

But researcher and professor Sanderson Onis says big data can also save lives.

In his 2022 talk from Ted X Sydney, he reveals how technology is being used to prevent an

everyday tragedy after the break.

Got a business problem? There's a Ted Talk for that. Stay updated on everything business,

on Ted Business, a podcast hosted by Columbia Business School professor Moduke Akanola.

Every week she'll introduce you to leaders with unique insights on work, answering questions

like, how do four day work weeks work? Do will a machine ever take my job? Get some surprising

answers on Ted Business, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sometimes I'll be scrolling through my social media on my phone and I'll get an ad.

But how on earth do they know that sometimes I snore so loudly my brother needs to wear

earplugs the next room over? I think we're all familiar with this not-so-secret

habit of the tech industry. Where they use these complex algorithms to get to know who

we are, what we like, what we don't like. Also they can tailor ads to us and sell us things.

But what if we could use this technology for good?

When I was diagnosed with depression in 2015, I had multiple intense suicidal episodes.

At one point it actually got so bad that I spent the whole day planning out how I would

die later that evening. I was probably less than an hour away from ending my life when

something saved me. What was it? Someone reached out.

I now know that I'm not alone. We're in Australia, so sad is the leading cause of death for

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